Emergency vehicle detection and avoidance systems for autonomous vehicles

ABSTRACT

The present disclosure generally relates to generating emergency vehicle warnings, automatic control of autonomous vehicles based upon the emergency vehicle warnings. More particularly, the present disclosure relates to generating data representative of emergency vehicle warnings and alternate autonomous vehicle routing based upon real-time information related to an emergency vehicle. The information related to the emergency vehicle may include emergency vehicle origination location data, emergency vehicle current location data, emergency vehicle route data, and/or emergency vehicle destination location data. An emergency vehicle warning and/or alternate vehicle routing for autonomous vehicles may be generated based further on information related to an autonomous vehicle. In one aspect, an emergency vehicle may wirelessly communicate with the autonomous vehicle and/or an insurance provider remote server. The insurance provider may adjust auto insurance for insured individuals, having vehicles with the vehicle safety functionality discussed herein, to reflect lower risk and provide insurance savings to customers.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.15/680,945, entitled EMERGENCY VEHICLE DETECTION AND AVOIDANCE SYSTEMSFOR AUTONOMOUS VEHICLES, filed Aug. 18, 2017, the entire disclosure ofwhich is hereby expressly incorporated herein by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present disclosure generally relates to methods and systems forautomatic operation of autonomous vehicles. More particularly, thepresent disclosure relates to methods and systems for automaticoperation of autonomous vehicles based on emergency vehicle warnings.

BACKGROUND

Emergency response vehicles are often slowed down on their way to ascene of a fire, an accident, etc. by other vehicles that do not moveout of the way. This condition (blocked roads) often slows firstresponders when time is of the essence. These circumstances may lead toaccidents and collisions between emergency responders and othervehicles.

Autonomous vehicles are becoming more prevalent in many parts of theworld. Operation of Autonomous vehicles on roadways along with operationof emergency vehicles presents a unique challenge.

Methods and systems are needed for automatic operation of autonomousvehicles based on emergency vehicle warnings.

SUMMARY

Systems and methods are provided for automatic operation of autonomousvehicles based on emergency vehicle warnings. The systems and methods ofthe present disclosure may reduce emergency vehicle/autonomous vehiclecollision accidents, speed response time of emergency vehicles (e.g.,fire trucks, ambulances, police, etc.), which may reduce fire losses,and/or faster response to auto accidents may reduce injuries and/or savelives.

A computer implemented method for automatically operating an autonomousvehicle based upon data representative of an emergency vehicle warningmay include receiving, at a processor of a computing device, emergencyvehicle data. The emergency vehicle data may be representative of atleast one of: emergency vehicle origination position data, emergencyvehicle existing position data, emergency vehicle course data, andemergency vehicle end position data. The method may also includereceiving, at a processor of a computing device, autonomous vehicledata. The autonomous vehicle data may be representative of at least oneof: autonomous vehicle origination position data, autonomous vehicleexisting position data, autonomous vehicle course data, and autonomousvehicle end position data. The method may further include generating,using a processor of a computing device, autonomous vehicle route databased upon the emergency vehicle data and the autonomous vehicle data,and automatically controlling operation of the autonomous vehicle basedupon the autonomous vehicle route data.

In another embodiment, a system for automatically controlling operationof an autonomous vehicle including a transceiver configured tocommunicate via at least one communication network, a memory storing aset of computer-executable instructions, and a processor interfacingwith the transceiver and the memory, and configured to execute the setof computer-executable instructions to cause the processor to receive,via the transceiver, emergency vehicle data. The emergency vehicle datamay be representative of at least one of: emergency vehicle originationlocation data, emergency vehicle current location data, emergencyvehicle route data, and emergency vehicle destination location data.Execution of the instructions by the processor may also cause theprocessor to receive, via the transceiver, autonomous vehicle data. Theautonomous vehicle data may be representative of at least one of:autonomous vehicle origination location data, autonomous vehicle currentlocation data, autonomous vehicle route data, and autonomous vehicledestination location data. Execution of the instructions by theprocessor may further cause the processor to generate autonomous vehicleroute data based upon the emergency vehicle data and the autonomousvehicle data, generate a set of autonomous vehicle operation commandsbased upon the autonomous vehicle route data, and transmit, via thetransceiver, the set of autonomous vehicle operation commands to theautonomous vehicle. Operation of the autonomous vehicle may beautomatically controlled according to the set of autonomous vehicleoperation commands.

In a further embodiment, a non-transitory computer-readable mediumstoring instructions that, when executed by a processor of a computingdevice, may cause the processor to automatically control operation of anautonomous vehicle based upon emergency vehicle warning data. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium may include an emergency vehicledata receiving module that, when executed by a processor of a computingdevice, causes the processor to receive emergency vehicle data. Theemergency vehicle data may be representative of at least one of:emergency vehicle origination location data, emergency vehicle currentlocation data, emergency vehicle route data, and emergency vehicledestination location data. The non-transitory computer-readable mediummay also include an autonomous vehicle data receiving module that, whenexecuted by a processor of a computing device, causes the processor toreceive autonomous vehicle data. The autonomous vehicle data may berepresentative of at least one of: autonomous vehicle originationlocation data, autonomous vehicle current location data, autonomousvehicle route data, and autonomous vehicle destination location data.The non-transitory computer-readable medium may further include anemergency vehicle warning data generation module that, when executed bya processor of a computing device, may cause the processor to generateautonomous vehicle route data, based upon the emergency vehicle data andthe autonomous vehicle data. The non-transitory computer-readable mediummay yet further include an alternate driving route module that, whenexecuted by a processor of a computing device, may cause the processorto automatically control operation of the autonomous vehicle based uponthe autonomous vehicle route data.

Advantages will become more apparent to those skilled in the art fromthe following description of the preferred embodiments which have beenshown and described by way of illustration. As will be realized, thepresent embodiments may be capable of other and different embodiments,and their details are capable of modification in various respects.Accordingly, the drawings and description are to be regarded asillustrative in nature and not as restrictive.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The Figures described below depict various aspects of the systems andmethods disclosed herein. It should be understood that each figuredepicts an embodiment of a particular aspect of the disclosed systemsand methods, and that each of the figures is intended to accord with apossible embodiment thereof. Further, wherever possible, the followingdescription refers to the reference numerals included in the followingfigures, in which features depicted in multiple figures are designatedwith consistent reference numerals.

There are shown in the drawings arrangements which are presentlydiscussed, it being understood, however, that the present embodimentsare not limited to the precise arrangements and instrumentalities shown,wherein:

FIG. 1A depicts an exemplary system for automatically operating anautonomous vehicle based upon emergency vehicle warning data;

FIG. 1B illustrates a more detailed block diagram of the back-endcomponents of the exemplary system shown in FIG. 1A;

FIG. 1C depicts another exemplary system for automatically operating anautonomous vehicle based upon emergency vehicle warning data;

FIG. 2A illustrates a high-level block diagram of an exemplaryautonomous vehicle device or on-board computing device that may operatein conjunction with any one of the systems of FIGS. 1A, 1B and 1C;

FIG. 2B depicts a high-level block diagram for another exemplarycomputer system for automatically operating an autonomous vehicle basedupon emergency vehicle warning data;

FIG. 3 depicts a block diagram for an exemplary emergency vehicle deviceor on-board computing device that may operate in conjunction with anyone of the systems of FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C and 2B;

FIG. 4 depicts a block diagram for an exemplary autonomous vehicledevice or on-board computing device that may operate in conjunction withany one of the systems of FIGS. 1A, 1B, 1C and 2B;

FIG. 5 depicts a block diagram for an exemplary remote emergencymanagement services computing device for generating emergency vehiclewarning data and/or insurance policy related data based upon theemergency vehicle warning data;

FIG. 6 depicts a flow diagram for an exemplary method for generatingemergency vehicle data and/or emergency vehicle warning data;

FIG. 7 depicts a flow diagram for an exemplary method for generatingautonomous vehicle data and/or automatic operation of an autonomousvehicle based upon emergency vehicle warning data; and

FIG. 8 depicts a flow diagram for an exemplary method for generatingemergency vehicle warning data and/or insurance policy related databased upon the emergency vehicle warning data.

The Figures depict preferred embodiments for purposes of illustrationonly. One skilled in the art will readily recognize from the followingdiscussion that alternative embodiments of the systems and methodsillustrated herein may be employed without departing from the principlesof the invention described herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Systems and methods are provided for automatic operation of autonomousvehicles based upon emergency vehicle warnings (e.g., emergency vehicleinformation, emergency vehicle warning data, etc.). An emergency vehiclelocation alert may be provided to vehicle operators to provide emergencyalerts to, for example, cellular telephones. In one exemplaryembodiment, the system may be similar to a nationwide text emergencyalert system, called Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA), as implemented bythe National Weather Service. Vehicles in a path of police, fire trucks,and ambulances, etc. may, thereby, be warned of impending emergencies.WEA-capable telephones may be provided to deliver just-in-time driveralerts that warn of approaching EMS vehicles. The alerts may be tailoredwith messages, such as “stop,” “move right,” “move left,” “move onto theshoulder,” “merge to right lane,” and/or the like, or just duplicate asiren tone, to clear the road ahead. Additionally or alternatively,autonomous vehicles may be automatically re-routed, based upon emergencyvehicle warning data to, for example, clear a path for emergencyresponse vehicles. Algorithms may be provided to determine a relativeposition of emergency management services (EMS) vehicles and localtraffic so as to not unduly warn and/or re-direct vehicles that are notin a path of travel of the EMS vehicles.

Accordingly, the systems and methods of the present disclosure generallyrelate to generating emergency vehicle warning data and automaticcontrol of autonomous vehicle routing based upon the emergency vehiclewarning data. More particularly, the methods and systems relate togenerating data representative of emergency vehicle warnings andalternate autonomous vehicle routing based upon real-time informationrelated to an emergency vehicle. The information related to theemergency vehicle may include, for example, emergency vehicleorigination location data, emergency vehicle current location data,emergency vehicle route data, and/or emergency vehicle destinationlocation data. Emergency vehicle warning data may be generated basedfurther upon information related to an autonomous vehicle. Theinformation related to the autonomous vehicle may include, for example,autonomous vehicle origination location data, autonomous vehicle currentlocation data, autonomous vehicle route data, and/or autonomous vehicledestination location data.

The systems and methods may further generate insurance-related databased upon, for example, emergency vehicle warning data, alternateautonomous vehicle routing data, and/or telematics data. Theinsurance-related data may be representative of, for example, a lowerinsurance risk for an emergency vehicle that includes an emergencyvehicle device (e.g., emergency vehicle device 205 b of FIG. 2B)compared to an emergency vehicle that does not include an emergencyvehicle device 205 b. Furthermore, the insurance-related data may berepresentative of a lower insurance risk for an autonomous vehicle thatincludes an autonomous vehicle device (e.g., autonomous vehicle device265 b of FIG. 2B) compared to an autonomous vehicle that does notinclude an autonomous vehicle device 205 b.

While the systems and methods of the present disclosure may generate andtransmit vehicle location data and/or insurance-related data, which mayinclude or be representative of personal information and individualinsurance policy information, the systems and methods may include an“opt-in” feature that enables any given individual to select a contentof any insurance policy related data. Furthermore, the systems andmethods may automatically exclude all personal information andindividual insurance policy information from the vehicle location and/orinsurance-related data. For example, the systems and methods maygenerate vehicle location information and/or insurance-related data thatonly includes an indication as to whether any given vehicle is equippedwith an emergency vehicle warning device, such as to avoid transmittingor broadcasting personal or sensitive information unnecessarily.

It should be noted that currently, the National Weather Service is ableto send automatic alerts to, for example, cellular telephones to warnthe associated users of bad weather. These warnings are sentautomatically (no subscription necessary) to “WEA-capable” phones (see,e.g.,http://www.noaa.gov/features/03_protecting/wireless_emergency_alerts.html).In one embodiment, a method similar to the National Weather Service maybe developed that would alert drivers in the path of EMS vehicles.

The present embodiments may also be used to notify drivers of tornados,hail storms, wind storms, rain, snow, heavy rain, heavy snow, wind,thunder storms, hurricanes, etc. in the vicinity of their vehicle and/oralong their route of travel. For instance, based upon GPS coordinatecomparison of a weather event and a traveling vehicle, a warning oralternate route to a driver may be provided (such as “Tornado Watch 15miles ahead, take alternate route, and seek shelter”; “Heavy Snow 30miles ahead, take alternate route”; “Thunders storms 5 miles aheadmoving East at 40 mph”; etc.

In one embodiment, an autonomous vehicle may be in direct or indirectwireless communication, or data transmission with a smart emergencyvehicle. As the smart emergency vehicle travels to a scene of aninsurance-related event, such as a vehicle accident, fire, medicalemergency, or police emergency, the smart emergency vehicle maybroadcast or transmit (via a vehicle-mounted transceiver) certaininformation to vehicles directly in front of it and/or along a route oftravel of the emergency vehicle. The information transmitted may includea position, destination, speed, heading, route, GPS location, and/orother information associated with the smart emergency vehicle. A vehiclecontroller (having an associated transceiver) of an autonomous vehiclemay receive that information and compare it with the position,destination, speed, heading, route, GPS location, and/or otherinformation of the autonomous vehicle.

Based upon the comparison, an autonomous vehicle controller may generatean audible or visual alert announcing the presence or route of theemergency vehicle, and/or provide recommendations and/or alternateroutes that may avoid the emergency vehicle (such as “Move over to theshoulder”; “Turn right and take alternate route along Main St. todestination”; “Pull off to the side street”; “Pull into the shoppingmall parking mall to let emergency vehicles pass,” etc.) Moreover, theautonomous vehicle may be automatically controlled, based upon thecomparison, to avoid the emergency vehicle. Also, if an emergencyvehicle alert or other alert is received by a non-autonomous vehicle,the non-autonomous vehicle may automatically turn off a vehicleentertainment system (e.g., loud music), and then may providerecommendations or directions to a driver of the non-autonomous vehicle.

As noted, the systems and methods of the present disclosure mayfacilitate automatically getting autonomous vehicles out of the way ofemergency vehicles. The present embodiments may alert drivers ofnon-autonomous vehicles not to head/drive in a direction of emergencyvehicles, and/or may provide intelligent routing based upon wirelesscommunication and/or data transmission indicating the real-time orcurrent location of emergency vehicles, accident scenes, house fires,hospital locations, police scenes, etc. In some aspects, a virtualnavigation map may pop up on a mobile device, smart vehicle displayscreen, or vehicle-mounted navigation unit to provide just-in-timevehicle re-routing to get around or avoid the route of emergencyvehicles, vehicle accidents, etc.

Emergency vehicles may include transponders or transceivers thatbroadcast to cell towers, mobile devices, and/or vehicles. Thetransponders or transceivers may also broadcast data to non-autonomousvehicles and/or autonomous vehicles, such as via point-to-point (P2P)wireless communication and/or vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) wirelesscommunication. Warnings may be generated at the emergency vehiclesthemselves, back-end cites, at processors associated with the celltowers, mobile devices, vehicles, smart vehicles, and/or autonomousvehicles based upon the data received from the emergency vehicles (suchas data associated with current emergency vehicle location, emergencyvehicle route, emergency vehicle destination, etc.). The warnings mayinclude information about vehicle accidents, accident locations, suggestalternate routing, and/or provide other forewarnings. Automation ofcommon procedures, triggered by emergency vehicle warnings, may reducecomputer processing times, memory requirements and/or relatedfacilities. Using the methods and systems, insurance customers may beautomatically warned of emergency vehicle(s) in the proximity of thecustomer's location, focused on relevant information to the emergencyvehicle(s), and/or provided with reduced risk to the insurance customerand reductions in related insurance agreement information.

Exemplary System for Generating Emergency Vehicle Warning Data and/orInsurance-Related Data

Turning to FIG. 1A, a high-level block diagram of an exemplary system100 for automatically controlling operation of an autonomous vehiclebased upon emergency vehicle warning data may include both hardware andsoftware applications, as well as various data communications channelsfor communicating data between the various hardware and softwarecomponents, as is described in detail herein. The system 100 may beroughly divided into front-end components 102 and back-end components104. The front-end components 102 may obtain information regarding anautonomous vehicle 108 (e.g., an autonomous car, an autonomous truck, anautonomous motorcycle, etc.) that is being automatically operated andregarding a context and surrounding environment (e.g., emergencyvehicles, other autonomous vehicles, other vehicles, obstacles, etc.) inwhich the autonomous vehicle 108 is being automatically operated. One ormore on-board computers 110 and/or one or more mobile devices 112 thatare included in the front-end components 102 and disposed at theautonomous vehicle 108 may utilize this information to, for example,notify or alert the driver of the autonomous vehicle 108, notify oralert other drivers and other vehicles 115 a-115 n that are operating inthe surrounding environment, automatically change an operating behaviorof the autonomous vehicle 108 and/or of any one or more of the othervehicles 115 a-115 n. The one or more on-board computers 110 may bepermanently or removably installed in the autonomous vehicle 108, andthe one or more mobile devices 112 may be disposed at and transported bythe autonomous vehicle 108, for example.

Generally speaking, the on-board computer 110 may be an on-boardcomputing device capable of performing various functions relating toautonomous vehicle automatic operation. That is, the on-board computer110 may be particularly configured with particular elements to therebybe able to perform functions relating to autonomous vehicle automaticoperations. Further, the on-board computer 110 may be installed by themanufacturer of the autonomous vehicle 108, or as an aftermarketmodification or addition to the autonomous vehicle 108. In FIG. 1A,although only one on-board computer 110 is depicted, it should beunderstood that in some embodiments, a plurality of on-board computers110 (which may be installed at one or more locations within theautonomous vehicle 108) may be used. However, for ease of reading andnot for limitation purposes, the on-board computing device or computer110 is referred to herein using the singular tense.

The mobile device 112 may be transported by the autonomous vehicle 108and may be, for example, a personal computer or personal electronicdevice (PED), cellular phone, smart phone, tablet computer, smart watch,wearable electronics, or a dedicated vehicle monitoring or controldevice which may be releasably attached to the autonomous vehicle 108.Although only one mobile device 112 is illustrated in FIG. 1A, it shouldbe understood that in some embodiments, a plurality of mobile devices112 may be included in the system 100. For ease of reading and not forlimitation purposes, though, the mobile device 112 is referred to hereinusing the singular tense.

Further, it is noted that, in some embodiments, the on-board computer110 may operate in conjunction with the mobile device 112 to perform anyor all of the functions described herein as being performed on-board theautonomous vehicle 108. In other embodiments, the on-board computer 110may perform all of the on-board vehicle functions described herein, inwhich case either no mobile device 112 is being transported by theautonomous vehicle 108, or any mobile device 112 that is beingtransported by the autonomous vehicle 108 is ignorant or unaware ofvehicle and driver operations. In still other embodiments, the mobiledevice 112 may perform all of the onboard autonomous vehicle functionsdescribed herein. Still further, in some embodiments, the on-boardcomputer 110 and/or the mobile device 112 may perform any or all of thefunctions described herein in conjunction with one or more back-endcomponents 104. For example, in some embodiments or under certainconditions, the mobile device 112 and/or on-board computer 110 mayfunction as thin-client devices that outsource some or most of theprocessing to one or more of the back-end components 104.

At any rate, the on-board computing device 110 and/or the mobile device112 disposed at the autonomous vehicle 108 may communicatively interfacewith one or more on-board sensors 118 that are disposed on or within theautonomous vehicle 108 and that may be utilized to monitor theautonomous vehicle 108 and the environment in which the autonomousvehicle 108 is operating. That is, the one or more on-board sensors 118may sense conditions associated with the autonomous vehicle 108 and/orassociated with the environment in which the autonomous vehicle 108 isoperating, and may collect data indicative of the sensed conditions. Insome configurations, at least some of the on-board sensors 118 may befixedly disposed at various locations on the autonomous vehicle 108.Additionally or alternatively, at least some of the on-board sensors maybe incorporated within or connected to the on-board computer 110. Stilladditionally or alternatively, in some configurations, at least some ofthe on-board sensors 118 may be included on or within the mobile device112. Whether disposed at or on the autonomous vehicle 108 or disposed ator on a mobile device 112 being transported by the autonomous vehicle108, though, the one or more of the sensors 118 are generally referredto herein as “on-board sensors 118,” and the data collected by theon-board sensors 118 is generally referred to herein as “sensor data,”“on-board sensor data,” or “vehicle sensor data.” The on-board sensors118 may communicate respective sensor data to the on-board computer 110and/or to the mobile device 112, and the sensor data may be processedusing the on-board computer 110 and/or the mobile device 112 todetermine when the autonomous vehicle 108 is in operation as well asdetermine information regarding the autonomous vehicle 108 and/or thevehicle's operating behavior. In some situations, the on-board sensors118 may communicate respective sensor data indicative of the environmentin which the autonomous vehicle 108 is operating.

As discussed above, at least some of the on-board sensors 118 associatedwith the autonomous vehicle 108 may be removably or fixedly disposedwithin or at the autonomous vehicle 108, and further may be disposed invarious arrangements and at various locations to sense and provideinformation. The sensors 118 that are installed at the autonomousvehicle 108 may include one or more of a GPS unit, a radar unit, a LIDARunit, an ultrasonic sensor, an infrared sensor, some other type ofelectromagnetic energy sensor, an inductance sensor, a camera, anaccelerometer, an odometer, a system clock, a gyroscope, a compass, ageo-location or geo-positioning unit, a location tracking sensor, aproximity sensor, a tachometer, and/or a speedometer, to name a few.Some of the on-board sensors 118 (e.g., GPS, accelerometer, ortachometer units) may provide sensor data indicative of, for example,the autonomous vehicle's location, speed, position acceleration,direction, responsiveness to controls, movement, etc. Other sensors 118that are disposed at the autonomous vehicle 108 may be directed to theinterior or passenger compartment of the autonomous vehicle 108, such ascameras, microphones, pressure sensors, weight sensors, thermometers, orsimilar sensors to monitor any passengers, operations of instrumentsincluded in the autonomous vehicle, operational behaviors of theautonomous vehicle, and/or conditions within the autonomous vehicle 108.For example, on-board sensors 118 directed to the interior of theautonomous vehicle 108 may provide sensor data indicative of, forexample, in-cabin temperatures, in-cabin noise levels, data from seatsensors (e.g., indicative of whether or not a person is using a seat,and thus the number of passengers being transported by the autonomousvehicle 108), data from seat belt sensors, data regarding the operationsof user controlled devices such as windshield wipers, defrosters,traction control, mirror adjustment, interactions with on-board userinterfaces, etc. Some of the sensors 118 disposed at the autonomousvehicle 108 (e.g., radar, LIDAR, camera, or other types of units thatoperate by using electromagnetic energy) may actively or passively scanthe environment external to the autonomous vehicle 108 for obstacles(e.g., emergency vehicles, other vehicles, buildings, pedestrians,trees, gates, barriers, animals, etc.) and their movement, weatherconditions (e.g., precipitation, wind, visibility, or temperature),roadways, road conditions (e.g., lane markings, potholes, road material,traction, or slope), road topography, traffic conditions (e.g., trafficdensity, traffic congestion, etc.), signs or signals (e.g., trafficsignals, speed limits, other jurisdictional signage, construction signs,building signs or numbers, or control gates), and/or other informationindicative of the vehicle's environment. Information or data that isgenerated or received by the on-board sensors 118 may be communicated tothe on-board computer 110 and/or to the mobile device 112, for example.

In some embodiments of the system 100, the front-end components 102 maycommunicate collected sensor data to the back-end components 104 (e.g.,via a network 120). For example, at least one of the on-board computer110 or the mobile device 112 may communicate with the back-endcomponents 104 via the network 120 to allow the back-end components 104to record collected sensor data and information regarding autonomousvehicle usage. The network 120 may include a proprietary network, asecure public Internet, a virtual private network, and/or some othertype of network, such as dedicated access lines, plain ordinarytelephone lines, satellite links, cellular data networks, combinationsof these and/or other types of networks. The network 120 may utilize oneor more radio frequency communication links to communicatively connectto the autonomous vehicle 108, e.g., utilize wireless communicationlinks 122 and 125 to communicatively connect with mobile device 112 andon-board computer 110, respectively. Where the network 120 comprises theInternet or other data packet network, data communications may takeplace over the network 120 via an Internet or other suitable data packetcommunication protocol. In some arrangements, the network 120additionally or alternatively includes one or more wired communicationlinks or networks.

The back-end components 104 include one or more servers or computingdevices, which may be implemented as a server bank or cloud computingsystem 130, and is interchangeably referred to herein as a “remotecomputing system 130.” The remote computing system 130 may include oneor more computer processors adapted and configured to execute varioussoftware applications and components of the system 100, in addition toother software applications. The remote computing system 130 may furtherinclude or be communicatively connected to one or more data storagedevices or entities 132, which may be adapted to store data related tothe operation of the autonomous vehicle 108, the environment and contextin which the autonomous vehicle 108 is operating, and/or otherinformation. For example, the one or more data storage devices 132 maybe implemented as a data bank or a cloud data storage system, at least aportion of which may be locally accessed by the remote computing system130 using a local access mechanism such as a function call or databaseaccess mechanism, and/or at least a portion of which may be remotelyaccessed by the remote computing system 130 using a remote accessmechanism such as a communication protocol. At any rate, the remotecomputing system 130 may access data stored in the one or more datastorage devices 132 when executing various functions and tasksassociated with the present disclosure.

To communicate with the remote computing system 130 and other portionsof the back-end components 104, the front-end components 102 may includeone or more communication components 135 a, 135 b that are configured totransmit information to and receive information from the back-endcomponents 104 and, in some embodiments, transmit information to andreceive information from other external sources, such as emergencyvehicles, other vehicles and/or infrastructure or environmentalcomponents disposed within the autonomous vehicle's environment. The oneor more communication components 135 a, 135 b may include one or morewireless transmitters or transceivers operating at any desired orsuitable frequency or frequencies. Different wireless transmitters ortransceivers may operate at different frequencies and/or by usingdifferent protocols, if desired. In an example, the mobile device 112may include a respective communication component 135 a for sending orreceiving information to and from the remote computing system 130 viathe network 120, such as over one or more radio frequency links orwireless communication channels 122 which support a first communicationprotocol (e.g., GSM, CDMA, LTE, one or more IEEE 802.11 Standards suchas Wi-Fi, WiMAX, BLUETOOTH, etc.). Additionally or alternatively, theon-board computer 110 may operate in conjunction with an on-boardtransceiver or transmitter 135 b that is disposed at the autonomousvehicle 108 (which may, for example, be fixedly attached to theautonomous vehicle 108) for sending or receiving information to and fromthe remote computing system 130 via the network 120, such as over one ormore radio frequency links or wireless communication channels 125 whichsupport the first communication protocol and/or a second communicationprotocol. In some embodiments, the on-board computer 110 may operate inconjunction with the mobile device 112 to utilize the communicationcomponent 135 a of the mobile device 112 and the link 122 to deliverinformation to the back-end components 104. In some embodiments, theon-board computer 110 may operate in conjunction with the mobile device112 to utilize the communication component 135 b of the autonomousvehicle 108 and the link 125 to deliver information to the back-endcomponents 104. In some embodiments, both communication components 135a, 135 b and their respective links 122, 125 may be utilized by theon-board computer 110 and/or the mobile device 112 to communicate withthe back-end components 104.

Accordingly, either one or both of the mobile device 112 or on-boardcomputer 110 may communicate with the network 120 over the links 122and/or 125. Additionally, in some configurations, the mobile device 112and on-board computer 110 may communicate with one another directly overa link 138, which may be a wireless or wired link.

In some embodiments of the system 100, the on-board computer 110 and/orthe on-board mobile device 112 of the autonomous vehicle 108 maycommunicate with respective on-board computers and/or mobile devicesdisposed at one or more other vehicles 115 a-115 n (e.g., emergencyvehicles, other autonomous vehicles, or other vehicles), either directlyor via the network 120. For example, the on-board computer 110 and/orthe mobile device 112 disposed at the autonomous vehicle 108 maycommunicate with other vehicles' respective on-board computers and/ormobile devices via the network 120 and one or more of the communicationcomponents 135 a, 135 b by using one or more suitable wirelesscommunication protocols (e.g., GSM, CDMA, LTE, one or more IEEE 802.11Standards such as Wi-Fi, WiMAX, BLUETOOTH, etc.). In someconfigurations, the on-board computer 110 may communicate with aparticular vehicle 115 a-115 n directly in a peer-to-peer (P2P) mannervia one or more of the communication components 135 a, 135 b and thedirect wireless communication link 140, which may utilize, for example,a Wi-Fi direct protocol, a BLUETOOTH or other short range communicationprotocol, an ad-hoc cellular communication protocol, or any othersuitable wireless communication protocol.

In some embodiments, the system 100 may include one or moreenvironmental communication components or devices, examples of which aredepicted in FIG. 1A by references 142 a, 142 b, 142 c, that are used formonitoring the status of one or more infrastructure components 145and/or for receiving data generated by other sensors 148 that areassociated with the autonomous vehicle 108 and disposed at locationsthat are off-board the autonomous vehicle 108. As generally referred toherein, with respect to the autonomous vehicle 108, “off-board sensors”or “environmental sensors” 148 are sensors that are not beingtransported by the autonomous vehicle 108. The data collected by theoff-board sensors 148 is generally referred to herein as “sensor data,”“off-board sensor data,” or “environmental sensor data” with respect tothe autonomous vehicle 108.

At least some of the off-board sensors 148 may be disposed on or at theone or more infrastructure components 145 or other types of componentsthat are fixedly disposed within the environment in which the autonomousvehicle 108 is traveling. Infrastructure components 145 may includeroadways, bridges, traffic signals, gates, switches, crossings, parkinglots or garages, toll booths, docks, hangars, or other similar physicalportions of a transportation system's infrastructure, for example. Othertypes of infrastructure components 145 at which off-board sensors 148may be disposed may include a traffic light, a street sign, a railroadcrossing signal, a construction notification sign, a roadside displayconfigured to display messages, a billboard display, a parking garagemonitoring device, etc. Off-board sensors 148 that are disposed on ornear infrastructure components 145 may generate data relating to thepresence and location of obstacles or of the infrastructure component145 itself, weather conditions, traffic conditions, operating status ofthe infrastructure component 145, and/or behaviors of various vehicles108, 115 a-115 n, pedestrians, and/or other moving objects within thevicinity of the infrastructure component 145, for example.

Additionally or alternatively, at least some of the off-board sensors148 that are communicatively connected to the one or more infrastructuredevices 145 may be disposed on or at one or more other vehicles 115a-115 n operating in the vicinity of the autonomous vehicle 108. Assuch, a particular sensor that is disposed on-board another vehicle 115a may be viewed as an off-board sensor 148 with respect to theautonomous vehicle 108.

At any rate, the one or more environmental communication devices 142a-142 c that are associated with the autonomous vehicle 108 may becommunicatively connected (either directly or indirectly) to one or moreoff-board sensors 148, and thereby may receive information relating tothe condition and/or location of the infrastructure components 145, ofthe environment surrounding the infrastructure components 145, and/or ofother vehicles 115 a-115 n or objects within the environment of theautonomous vehicle 108. In some embodiments, the one or moreenvironmental communication devices 142 a-142 c may receive informationfrom the autonomous vehicle 108, while, in other embodiments, theenvironmental communication device(s) 142 a-142 c may only transmitinformation to the autonomous vehicle 108. As previously discussed, atleast some of the environmental communication devices may be locallydisposed in the environment in which the autonomous vehicle 108 isoperating, e.g., as denoted by references 142 a, 142 b. In someembodiments, at least some of the environmental communication devicesmay be remotely disposed, e.g., at the back-end 104 of the system 100 asdenoted by reference 142 c. In some embodiments, at least a portion ofthe environmental communication devices may be included in (e.g.,integral with) one or more off-board sensors 148, e.g., as denoted byreference 142 b. In some configurations, at least some of theenvironmental communication devices 142 may be included or integratedinto the one or more on-board communication components 135 a, 135 b, theon-board computer 110, and/or the mobile device 112 of surroundingvehicles 115 a-115 n (not shown).

In addition to receiving information from the on-board sensors 118 andoff-board sensors 148 associated with the autonomous vehicle 108, theon-board computer 110 at the autonomous vehicle 108 may directly orindirectly control the operation of the autonomous vehicle 108 accordingto various fully- or semi-autonomous operation features. The autonomousoperation features may include software applications or modulesimplemented by the on-board computer 110 to generate and implementcontrol commands to control the steering, braking, or motive power ofthe autonomous vehicle 108. To facilitate such control, the on-boardcomputer 110 may be communicatively connected to control components ofthe autonomous vehicle 108 by various electrical or electromechanicalcontrol components (not shown). When a control command is generated bythe on-board computer 110, it may thus be communicated to the controlcomponents of the autonomous vehicle 108 to effect a control action. Inembodiments involving fully autonomous vehicles, the autonomous vehicle108 may be operable only through such control components (not shown). Inother embodiments, the control components may be disposed within orsupplement other vehicle operator control components (not shown), suchas steering wheels, accelerator or brake pedals, or ignition switches.

Further, the on-board computer 110 may control one or more operations ofthe autonomous vehicle 108 when the vehicle is operatingnon-autonomously. For example, the on-board computer 110 mayautomatically detect respective triggering conditions and automaticallyactivate corresponding features such as traction control, windshieldwipers, headlights, braking, etc.

With reference to FIG. 1B, a more detailed block diagram of the exampleback-end components 104 of the system 100 may include a remote computingsystem 130 having a controller 150 that is operatively connected to theone or more data storage devices or entities 132 via a link 152, whichmay be a local or a remote link 152. It should be noted that, while notshown, additional data storage devices or entities may be linked to thecontroller 150 in a known manner. For example, separate databases may beused for various types of information, such as autonomous operationfeature information, vehicle accidents, road conditions, vehicleinsurance policy information, driver performance, or vehicle useinformation. Additional databases (not shown) may be communicativelyconnected to the remote computing system 130 via the network 120, suchas databases maintained by third parties (e.g., weather, construction,or road network databases). The controller 150 may include one or morememories 160 (e.g., one or more program memories 160), one or moreprocessors 162 (which may be called a microcontroller or amicroprocessor), one or more random-access memories (RAMs) 164, and aninput/output (I/O) circuit 166, all of which may be interconnected viaan address/data bus 165. It should be appreciated that although only onemicroprocessor 162 is shown, the controller 150 may include multiplemicroprocessors 162. Similarly, the memory of the controller 150 mayinclude multiple RAMs 164 and multiple program memories 160. Althoughthe I/O circuit 166 is shown as a single block, it should be appreciatedthat the I/O circuit 166 may include a number of different types of I/Ocircuits. The RAM 164 and program memories 160 may be implemented assemiconductor memories, magnetically readable memories, opticallyreadable memories, or biologically readable memories, for example.Generally speaking, the RAM 164 and/or the program memories 160 mayrespectively include one or more non-transitory, computer-readablestorage media. The controller 150 may also be operatively connected tothe network 120 via a link 170.

The remote computing system 130 may further include a number of softwareapplications 153-158 stored in a program memory 160. The varioussoftware applications on the remote computing system 130 may include,for example, a vehicle monitoring application 153 for receiving sensordata (whether from on-board sensors 118 and/or from off-board sensors148) indicative of the operating behavior of the autonomous vehicle 108and/or an environmental monitoring application 154 for receiving data(whether from on-board sensors 118, off-board sensors 148, and/or thirdparty data feeds) indicative of changing environmental and contextualconditions in which the autonomous vehicle 108 is operating, a vehicleperformance evaluation application 155 for determining a performance ofthe autonomous vehicle 108 during the changing environmental andcontextual conditions, and a real-time communication application 156 forcommunicating information and/or instructions to the autonomous vehicle108 (e.g., to the on-board computing device 110, the mobile device 112,and/or another computing device disposed at the autonomous vehicle 108),to other vehicles 115 a-115 n, and/or to other computing systems. Otherapplications at the remote computing system 130 may include, forexample, an application for supporting autonomous and/or semi-autonomousvehicle operations 157 and/or one or more other applications 158 whichmay support vehicle operations (whether fully-, semi- ornon-autonomous), vehicle context determination, and/or evaluation ofautonomous vehicle performance. Generally speaking, the applications153-158 may perform one or more functions related to automatic operationof the autonomous vehicle 108 and responses (temporal and otherwise) tochanges in the context. For example, one or more of the applications153-158 may perform at least a portion of any of the methods describedherein.

The various software applications 153-158 may be executed on the samecomputer processor 162 or on different computer processors. Further,while the various applications 153-158 are depicted as separateapplications, two or more of the applications 153-158 may be integratedas an integral application, if desired. In some embodiments, at leastone of the applications 153-158 may be implemented in conjunction withanother application (not shown) that is stored and executed at theremote computing system 130, such as a navigation application.

Additionally, it is noted that although the system 100 for automaticoperation of an autonomous vehicle 100 is shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B toinclude one autonomous vehicle 108, one mobile device 112, one on-boardcomputer 110, and one remote computing system 130, it should beunderstood that different numbers of autonomous vehicles 108, mobiledevices 112, on-board computers 110, emergency vehicles 115 a-n and/orremote computing devices or servers 130 may be utilized. For example,the system 100 may include a plurality of servers 130 and hundreds orthousands of mobile devices 112 or on-board computers 110, all of whichmay be interconnected via the network 120. Furthermore, the databasestorage or processing performed by the one or more servers 130 may bedistributed among a plurality of servers 130 in an arrangement known as“cloud computing.” This configuration may provide various advantages,such as enabling near real-time uploads and downloads of information aswell as periodic uploads and downloads of information. This may in turnsupport a thin-client embodiment of the mobile device 112 or on-boardcomputer 110 discussed herein. Further, in some embodiments, any numberof other vehicles 115 a-115 n may be communicatively connected to and/orincluded in the system 100 (e.g., via the network 120).

Turning to FIG. 1C, a system for generating emergency vehicle warningdata and/or insurance-related data 100 c may include a remote location105 c, a communication system 110 c, at least one emergency vehicle 120c, and/or at least one autonomous vehicle 130 c. While only oneemergency vehicle 120 c and only one autonomous vehicle 130 c aredepicted in FIG. 1C, it should be understood that any number ofemergency vehicles 120 c and any number of autonomous vehicles 130 c maybe included in a system for generating emergency vehicle warning data100 c. The emergency vehicles 120 c and autonomous vehicles 130 c may bein direct wireless communication or data transmission with one another,such as via peer-to-peer (P2P) communication, and/or in indirectwireless communication or data transmission with one another, such as byusing a cell tower or remote server/processor associated with a remotelocation 105 c as a relay.

In any event, an emergency call may be received by, for example, adispatcher located, for example, at the remote location 105 c. Inresponse to the emergency call, the dispatcher may assign a particularemergency response vehicle to respond to the emergency call. Inconjunction with assigning the emergency vehicle, the dispatcher mayenter emergency vehicle data into, for example, a remote emergencymanagement services device (e.g., remote EMS computing device 210 b ofFIG. 2B). The emergency vehicle data may be representative of, forexample, an emergency vehicle origination location data, an emergencyvehicle route data, and/or an emergency vehicle destination locationdata.

The dispatcher may transmit the emergency vehicle data to the emergencyvehicle 120 c via a first communication link 115 c and a secondcommunication link 125 c. The first communication link 115 c and thesecond communication link 125 c may combine to define, for example, apeer-to-peer communication link. Alternatively, the first communicationlink 115 c and the second communication link 125 c may combine with thecommunication system 110 c to define, for example, a cellular telephonenetwork.

In response to receiving the emergency vehicle data from the remotelocation, the emergency vehicle 120 c may begin transmitting emergencyvehicle data. For example, the emergency vehicle 120 c may transmitemergency vehicle data back to the remote location 105, via the firstcommunication link 115 c and the second communication link 125 c, and/orto the autonomous vehicle 130 c via the second communication link 125 cand a third communication link 135 c. Similar, to the firstcommunication link 115 c and the second communication link 125 c, thesecond communication link 125 c and the third communication link 135 cmay combine to define, for example, a peer-to-peer communication link.Alternatively, the second communication link 125 c and the thirdcommunication link 135 c may combine with the communication system 110 cto define, for example, a cellular telephone network.

As an alternative to the remote location 105 c and/or the emergencyvehicle 120 c transmitting emergency vehicle data, emergency vehiclewarning data may be generated, using a processor of a computing device(e.g., processor 275 b or processor 250 b, respectively), based upon theemergency vehicle data, and the remote location 105 c and/or theemergency vehicle 120 c may transmit/receive the emergency vehiclewarning data.

In an additional embodiment, the emergency vehicle 120 c may wirelesslycommunicate current location, route, speed, destination, type ofemergency, and/or other information to a smart roadside sign. The smartroadside sign may display messages to vehicles (e.g., autonomousvehicles 130 c) passing by, such as displaying road or travel conditionsthat an autonomous vehicle 130 c is approaching, and/or the status orroute of an emergency vehicle 120 c approaching or otherwise in thevicinity. The smart roadside sign may display or otherwise indicateradio stations that travelers may tune their radios to in order to hearfurther updates, and/or current locations of emergencies (e.g., vehicleaccidents) and/or emergency vehicles 120 c. Additionally oralternatively, the smart roadside sign may wirelessly communicateemergency vehicle 120 c information (e.g., the information receiveddirectly or indirectly from an emergency vehicle 120 c) directly orindirectly to autonomous vehicles 130 c or mobile devices of travelersto enhance road safety and awareness of emergency vehicles 120 c.

Exemplary System for Generating Emergency Vehicle Warning Data and/orInsurance-Related Data

With reference to FIG. 2A, a block diagram of an exemplary mobile device112 or an exemplary on-board computer 110, consistent with the system100, may include a display 202, a GPS or other suitable geo-locationunit 206, a communication unit 220, an accelerometer 224, one or moreadditional sensors 225, a user-input device (not shown), and/or acontroller 204, which may be similar to the controller 150 of the remotecomputing system 130. In some embodiments, the mobile device 112 andon-board computer 110 may be integrated into a single device, or eithermay perform the functions of both. The on-board computer 110/mobiledevice 112 may interface with one or more on-board sensors 118 that aredisposed at the autonomous vehicle 108 (but that are separate from thedevice 110/112) to receive information regarding the autonomous vehicle108 and its environment. Additionally, the on-board computer 110/mobiledevice 112 may interface with one or more off-board sensors 148 toreceive information regarding the autonomous vehicle 108 and itsenvironment (e.g., information regarding emergency vehicles, emergencyvehicle data, etc.).

Similar to the controller 150, the controller 204 may include a programmemory 208, one or more microcontrollers or microprocessors (MP) 210, aRAM 212, and an I/O circuit 216, all of which are interconnected via anaddress/data bus 214. The program memory 208 includes an operatingsystem 226, a data storage 228, and/or a plurality of softwareapplications 230. The operating system 226, for example, may include oneof a plurality of general purpose or mobile platforms, such as theAndroid™, iOS®, or Windows® systems, developed by Google Inc., AppleInc., and Microsoft Corporation, respectively. Alternatively, theoperating system 226 may be a custom operating system designed for theon-board computer 110. The data storage 228 may include data such asuser profiles and preferences, application data for the plurality ofapplications 230, and other data related to evaluating driverperformance. In some embodiments, the controller 204 may also include,or otherwise be communicatively connected to, other data storagemechanisms (e.g., one or more hard disk drives, optical storage drives,solid state storage devices, etc.) that reside within the autonomousvehicle 108 and/or at the remote system 130.

As discussed with reference to the controller 150, it should beappreciated that although FIG. 2A depicts only one microprocessor 210,the controller 204 may include multiple microprocessors 210. Similarly,the memory of the controller 204 may include multiple RAMs 212 andmultiple program memories 208. Although FIG. 2A depicts the I/O circuit216 as a single block, the I/O circuit 216 may include a number ofdifferent types of I/O circuits. The controller 204 may implement theRAMs 212 and the program memories 208 as semiconductor memories,magnetically readable memories, or optically readable memories, forexample. Generally speaking, the RAMs 212 and/or the program memories208 may respectively include one or more non-transitory,computer-readable storage media.

The one or more processors 210 of the device 110/112 may be adapted andconfigured to execute any of one or more of the plurality of softwareapplications 230 residing in the program memory 204, in addition toother software applications. The various software applications 230 ofthe device 110/112 may include, for example, a vehicle monitoringapplication 231 for receiving (whether from on-board sensors 118 and/orfrom off-board sensors 148) sensor data indicative of the operatingbehavior of the autonomous vehicle 108, an environmental monitoringapplication 232 for receiving (whether from on-board sensors 118,off-board sensors 148, and/or third party data feeds) data indicative ofchanging environmental (e.g., information regarding emergency vehicles,emergency vehicle data, etc.) and contextual conditions in which theautonomous vehicle 108 is operating, an automatic autonomous vehicleoperation application 233 for determining a performance of theautonomous vehicle 108 during the changing environmental and contextualconditions, and a real-time communication application 234 forcommunicating information and/or instructions to the autonomous vehicle108 (e.g., to another computing device or system disposed at theautonomous vehicle 108), to other vehicles 115 a-115 n, to the remotecomputing system 130, to other back-end components 104 of the system 100such as the environmental communication device 142 c, and/or to othercomputing systems. Other applications that are executed at the device110/112 may include, for example, an application for supportingautonomous and/or semi-autonomous vehicle operations 235 and/or one ormore other applications 236 which may support vehicle operations(whether fully-, semi-, or non-autonomous), and/or context determination(e.g., information regarding emergency vehicles, emergency vehicle data,etc.). Generally speaking, the applications 230 may perform one or morefunctions related to automatic autonomous vehicle operation based uponemergency vehicles (e.g., information regarding emergency vehicles,emergency vehicle data, etc.) operating in the environment surroundingthe autonomous vehicle 108 and the autonomous vehicle responses(temporal and otherwise) to changes in the context. For example, one ormore of the applications 230 may perform at least a portion of any ofthe methods described herein. In some embodiments, one or more of theapplications 230 may operate in conjunction with one or more of theapplications 153-158 at the remote computing system 130 to perform oneor more functions related to automatic autonomous vehicle operationbased upon the context (e.g., information regarding emergency vehicles,emergency vehicle data, etc.) in which the autonomous vehicle 108 isoperating and the autonomous vehicle responses (temporal and otherwise)to changes in the context. For example, one or more of the applications231-236 at the device 110/112 may be implemented as a thin-client thatoperates in conjunction with one or more of the applications 153-158 atthe remote computing system.

The various software applications 230 may be executed on the samecomputer processor 210 or on different computer processors. Further,while the various applications 231-236 are depicted as separateapplications, two or more of the applications 231-236 may be integratedas an integral application, if desired. In some embodiments, at leastone of the applications 231-236 may be implemented in conjunction withanother application (not shown) that is stored and executed at thedevice 110/112, e.g., a navigation application, a user interfaceapplication, etc.

In addition to the communicative connections to the on-board sensors 118that are disposed at the autonomous vehicle 108 but not at, on, orwithin the device 110/112 itself, the device 110/112 may includeadditional on-board sensors 118 that are integral with the device110/112, such as the GPS unit 206 and/or the accelerometer 224, whichmay provide information regarding the operation of the autonomousvehicle 108. Such integral sensors 118 may further include one or moresensors of a sensor array 225, which may include, for example, one ormore cameras, additional accelerometers, gyroscopes, magnetometers,barometers, thermometers, proximity sensors, light sensors, Hall Effectsensors, etc. The one or more sensors of the sensor array 225 may bepositioned to determine telematics data regarding the speed, force,heading, direction, and/or other parameters associated with movements ofthe autonomous vehicle 108.

Furthermore, the communication unit 220 of the device 110/112 maycommunicate with other vehicles 115 a-115 n (e.g., emergency vehicles,other autonomous vehicles, other vehicles, etc.), infrastructure orenvironmental components 142, 145, back-end components 104, or otherexternal sources of information to transmit and receive informationrelating to automatic autonomous vehicle operation based upon emergencyvehicle operation (e.g., information regarding emergency vehicles,emergency vehicle data, etc.). For example, the communication unit 220may be included in or may include one or more of the communicationcomponents 135 a, 135 b shown in FIG. 1A. Additionally or alternatively,the communication unit 220 may be included in or may include an instanceof the environmental communication component 142 shown in FIG. 1A. Thecommunication unit 220 may communicate with the external sources via thenetwork 120 or via any suitable wireless communication protocol network,such as wireless telephony (e.g., GSM, CDMA, LTE, etc.), Wi-Fi (802.11standards), WiMAX, Bluetooth, infrared or radio frequency communication,etc. Further, the communication unit 220 may provide input signals tothe controller 204 via the I/O circuit 216. The communication unit 220may also transmit sensor data, device status information, controlsignals, or other output from the controller 204 to one or more sensors118 within the autonomous vehicle 108, mobile devices 112, on-boardcomputers 110, off-board sensors 148, environmental communicationdevices 142, and/or remote servers 130.

Further, the mobile device 112 or the on-board computer 110 may includea user-input device (not shown) for receiving instructions orinformation from the vehicle operator, such as settings, selections,acknowledgements, etc. The user-input device (not shown) may include a“soft” keyboard that is displayed on the display 202, an externalhardware keyboard communicating via a wired or a wireless connection(e.g., a Bluetooth keyboard), an external mouse, a microphone, or anyother suitable user-input device. The user-input device (not shown) mayalso include a microphone capable of receiving user voice input.

Turning to FIG. 2B, a computer system for generating emergency vehiclewarning data 200 b may include an emergency vehicle device 205 b and anautonomous vehicle device 265 b in communication with a remote emergencymanagement services computer device 210 b via a communications network215 b. The computer system 200 b may implement communications betweenthe emergency vehicle device 205 b, the autonomous vehicle device 265 b,and the remote emergency management services device 210 b to provide,for example, emergency vehicle warning data to an emergency managementservices related database 260 b. For example, the computer system 200 bmay acquire emergency vehicle data from, for example, a user of anemergency vehicle device 205 b and/or autonomous vehicle data from, forexample, a user of an autonomous vehicle device 265 b. As described indetail herein, the computer system 200 may automatically generateemergency vehicle warning data based upon, for example, emergencyvehicle data and/or autonomous vehicle data. The autonomous vehicledevice 265 b may automatically control operation of an associatedautonomous vehicle based upon the emergency vehicle warning data. Forexample, the autonomous vehicle device 265 b may automatically controlthe autonomous vehicle to avoid traveling on a roadway that wouldencounter an associated emergency vehicle.

For clarity, only one emergency vehicle device 205 b, one autonomousvehicle device 265 b, and one remote emergency management servicesdevice 210 b are depicted in FIG. 2B. While FIG. 2B depicts only oneemergency vehicle device 205 b, one autonomous vehicle device 265 b, andone remote emergency management services device 210 b, it should beunderstood that any number of emergency vehicle devices 205 b, anynumber of autonomous vehicle devices 265 b, and any number of remoteemergency management services computing devices may be supported, andthat each emergency vehicle device 205 b, each autonomous vehicle device265 b, and each remote emergency management services computing device210 b may be any appropriate computing device, such as a mobiletelephone, a personal data assistant, a tablet or a lap-top computer.

An emergency vehicle device 205 b may include a memory 220 b and aprocessor 225 b for storing and executing, respectively, a module 221 b.The module 221 b, stored in the memory 220 b as a set ofcomputer-readable instructions, may be related to an application forgenerating emergency vehicle warning data, and/or insurance-relateddata, based upon emergency vehicle data and/or autonomous vehicle datathat, when executed on a processor 225 b, causes data representative ofemergency vehicle warning data and/or insurance-related data based uponemergency vehicle data and/or autonomous vehicle data to be stored inthe memory 220 b. As described in detail herein, the module 221 b mayfacilitate interaction between an associated emergency vehicle device205 b, an autonomous vehicle device 265 b, and/or a remote emergencymanagement services computing device 210 b. The processor 225 b, furtherexecuting the module 221 b, may facilitate communications between aremote emergency management services computing device 210 b, anemergency vehicle device 205 b, and/or an autonomous vehicle device 265b via a network interface 240 b and a network 215 b.

An emergency vehicle device 205 b may include a global positioningsystem (GPS) 227 b. An emergency vehicle device 205 b may include adisplay device 235 b which may be any type of electronic display devicesuch as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED)display, a plasma display, a cathode ray tube (CRT) display, or anyother type of known or suitable electronic display. A display device 235b may exhibit a display which depicts a user interface for configuringan emergency vehicle device 205 b to communicate with an autonomousvehicle device 265 b and/or a remote emergency management servicescomputing device 210 b. An emergency vehicle device 205 b may include auser input device 230 b, such as a touch input/keyboard/pointing device(e.g., a mouse) that provides a mechanism for a user of the emergencyvehicle device 205 b to launch an emergency vehicle device insuranceapplication and, for example, to interact with a system for generatingemergency vehicle warning data, and/or insurance-related data, basedupon emergency vehicle data and/or autonomous vehicle data. The userinput device 230 b may be configured as an integral part of a displaydevice 235 b, such as a touch screen display device.

The network interface 240 b may be configured to facilitatecommunications between an emergency vehicle device 205 b, an autonomousvehicle device 265 b, and/or a remote emergency management servicescomputing device 210 b via any wireless communication network 215 b,including for example a peer-to-peer communications link, wireless LAN,MAN or WAN, WiFi, the Internet, or any combination thereof. Moreover, anemergency vehicle device 205 b may be communicatively connected to aremote emergency management services device 210 b via any suitablecommunication system, such as via any publicly available or privatelyowned communication network, including those that use wirelesscommunication structures, such as wireless communication networks,including for example, a peer-to-peer communications link, wireless LANsand WANs, satellite and cellular telephone communication systems, etc.An emergency vehicle device 205 b may cause, for example, emergencyvehicle data and/or emergency vehicle warning data to be transmitted to,and stored in, for example, a remote emergency management servicescomputing device 210 b memory 245 b and/or a remote emergency managementservices related database 260 b.

An autonomous vehicle device 265 b may include a memory 270 b and aprocessor 275 b for storing and executing, respectively, a module 271 b.The module 271 b, stored in the memory 270 b as a set ofcomputer-readable instructions, may be related to an application forgenerating autonomous vehicle warning data, and/or insurance-relateddata, based upon autonomous vehicle data and/or emergency vehicle datathat, when executed on a processor 275 b, causes data representative ofautonomous vehicle warning data and/or insurance-related data based uponemergency vehicle data and/or autonomous vehicle data to be stored inthe memory 270 b. As described in detail herein, the module 271 b mayfacilitate interaction between an associated autonomous vehicle device265 b, an emergency vehicle device 205 b, and/or a remote emergencymanagement services computing device 210 b. The processor 275 b, furtherexecuting the module 271 b, may facilitate communications between aremote emergency management services computing device 210 b, anautonomous vehicle device 265 b, and/or an emergency vehicle device 205b via a network interface 290 b and a network 215 b.

An autonomous vehicle device 265 b may include a global positioningsystem (GPS) 277 b. An autonomous vehicle device 265 b may include adisplay device 285 b which may be any type of electronic display devicesuch as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a light emitting diode (LED)display, a plasma display, a cathode ray tube (CRT) display, or anyother type of known or suitable electronic display. A display device 285b may exhibit a display which depicts a user interface for configuringan autonomous vehicle device 265 b to communicate with an emergencyvehicle device 205 b and/or a remote emergency management servicescomputing device 210 b. An autonomous vehicle device 265 b may include auser input device 280 b, such as a touch input/keyboard/pointing device(e.g., a mouse) that provides a mechanism for a user of the autonomousvehicle device 265 b to launch an autonomous vehicle device insuranceapplication and, for example, to interact with a system for generatingemergency vehicle warning data, and/or insurance-related data, basedupon emergency vehicle data and/or autonomous vehicle data. The userinput device 280 may be configured as an integral part of a displaydevice 285 b, such as a touch screen display device.

The network interface 290 b may be configured to facilitatecommunications between an autonomous vehicle device 265 b, an emergencyvehicle device 205 b, and/or a remote emergency management servicescomputing device 210 b via any wireless communication network 215 b,including for example a peer-to-peer communications link, wireless LAN,MAN or WAN, WiFi, the Internet, or any combination thereof. Moreover, anautonomous vehicle device 265 b may be communicatively connected to aremote emergency management services device 210 b via any suitablecommunication system, such as via any publicly available or privatelyowned communication network, including those that use wirelesscommunication structures, such as wireless communication networks,including for example, a peer-to-peer communications link, wireless LANsand WANs, satellite and cellular telephone communication systems, etc.An autonomous vehicle device 265 b may cause, for example, autonomousvehicle data to be transmitted to, and stored in, for example, a remoteemergency management services computing device 210 b memory 245 b and/ora remote emergency management services related database 260 b.

A remote emergency management services computing device 210 b mayinclude a memory 245 b and a processor 250 b for storing and executing,respectively, a module 246 b. The module 246 b, stored in the memory 245b as a set of computer-readable instructions, may facilitateapplications related to generating emergency vehicle warning data,and/or insurance-related data, based upon emergency vehicle data and/orautonomous vehicle data. The module 246 b may also facilitatecommunications between the remote emergency management servicescomputing device 210 b, an emergency vehicle device 205 b, and/or anautonomous vehicle device 265 b via a network interface 255 b and thenetwork 215 b, and other functions and instructions.

A remote emergency management services device 210 b may becommunicatively coupled to an emergency management services relateddatabase 260 b. While the emergency management services related database260 b is shown in FIG. 2B as being communicatively coupled to the remoteemergency management services device 210 b, it should be understood thatthe emergency management services related database 260 b may be locatedwithin separate remote servers (or any other suitable computing devices)communicatively coupled to the remote emergency management servicescomputer device 210 b. Optionally, portions of emergency managementservices related database 260 b may be associated with memory modulesthat are separate from one another, such as a memory 220 b of anemergency vehicle device 205 b and/or an autonomous vehicle device 265b.

Exemplary Emergency Vehicle Device for Generating Emergency Vehicle Dataand/or Emergency Vehicle Warning Data

Turning to FIG. 3, an emergency vehicle device 300 may include a from/todata receiving module 310, a location data generation module 315, anemergency status data generation module 320, and/or a location andemergency status data transmission module 325 stored on, for example, amemory 305. The emergency vehicle device 300 may be similar to theemergency vehicle device 205 b of FIG. 2B, and/or may includeadditional, less, or alternate functionality, including that discussedelsewhere herein.

Exemplary Autonomous Vehicle Device for Generating Autonomous VehicleData and/or Emergency Vehicle Warning Data

Turning to FIG. 4, an autonomous vehicle device 400 may include anemergency vehicle warning data receiving module 410, a warning and/oralternate driving route data generation module 415, and/or a warningand/or alternate driving route presentation module 420 stored on, forexample, a memory 405. The autonomous vehicle device 400 may be similarto the autonomous vehicle device 265 b of FIG. 2B, and/or may includeadditional, less, or alternate functionality, including that discussedelsewhere herein.

Exemplary Remote Emergency Management Services Computing Device forGenerating Emergency Vehicle Warning Data, and Insurance-Related Data

With reference to FIG. 5, a remote emergency management servicescomputing device 500 may include an emergency call data receiving module510, an emergency vehicle dispatch and from/to data entering module 515,an effected geographic area determination module 520, an emergencyvehicle warning data generation module 525, an emergency vehicle warningdata transmission module 530, and/or an insurance-related datageneration module 535 stored on, for example, a memory 505. The remoteemergency management services computing device 500 may be similar to,for example, the remote emergency management services computing device210 b of FIG. 2B, and/or may include additional, less, or alternatefunctionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

Exemplary Method for Generating Emergency Vehicle Data and/or EmergencyVehicle Warning Data

Turning to FIG. 6, a method of automatically generating emergencyvehicle data 600 may be implemented by a processor (e.g., processor 225b of emergency vehicle device 205 b of FIG. 2B) executing, for example,modules 310-320 of FIG. 3. In particular, processor 225 b may executethe from/to data receiving module 310 to cause the processor 225 b toreceive to/from data from, for example, a processor of a remoteemergency management services computer (e.g., processor 250 b) (block605). The processor 225 b may execute the location data generationmodule 315 to cause the processor 225 b to generate emergency vehiclelocation data based upon, for example, a global positioning system (GPS)227 b signal (block 610). The processor 225 b may execute the emergencystatus data generation module 320 to cause the processor 225 b togenerate emergency status data (block 615). The emergency status datamay be indicative of whether an associated emergency vehicle is, forexample, currently in motion, or is currently stationary.

The processor 225 b may execute the location and emergency status datatransmission module 325 to cause the processor 225 b to transmitemergency vehicle data to, for example, a processor of a remoteemergency management services computing device (e.g., processor 250 b)and/or to a processor of an autonomous vehicle device (e.g., processor275 b) (block 620). The emergency vehicle data may be based upon, forexample, the location data and/or the emergency status data. Forexample, the emergency vehicle data may be representative of anemergency vehicle origination location, an emergency vehicle currentlocation, an emergency vehicle route, and/or an emergency vehicledestination location.

Additionally, or alternatively, the processor 225 b may execute anemergency vehicle warning data generation module 525 to generateemergency vehicle warning data (and/or alternate routing information)based upon, for example, emergency vehicle data and/or autonomousvehicle data. When the processor 225 b generates emergency vehiclewarning data (and/or alternate routing information), the processor 225 bmay transmit the emergency vehicle warning data in addition to, or inlieu of, the emergency vehicle data, to, for example, a processor of aremote emergency management services computing device (e.g., processor250 b) and/or to a processor of an autonomous vehicle device (e.g.,processor 275 b) (block 620). The method may include additional, fewer,or alternate actions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

Exemplary Method for Generating Autonomous Vehicle Data, EmergencyVehicle Warning Data, and Automatic Control of an Associated AutonomousVehicle Based Upon the Emergency Vehicle Warning Data

With reference to FIG. 7, a method of automatically generatingautonomous vehicle data 500 may be implemented by a processor (e.g.,processor 275 b of autonomous vehicle device 265 b of FIG. 2B)executing, for example, modules 410-420 of FIG. 4. In particular,processor 275 b may execute an emergency vehicle warning data receivingmodule 410 to receive emergency vehicle warning data from, for example,a processor of a remote emergency management services computing device(e.g., processor 250 b) and/or a processor of an emergency vehicledevice (e.g., processor 225 b) (block 705). The processor 275 b mayexecute a warning and/or alternate driving route data generation module415 to cause the processor 275 b to generate warning data and/oralternate driving route data based upon the emergency vehicle warningdata (block 710). The processor 275 b may automatically control theassociated autonomous vehicle based upon the warning and/or alternatedriving route data to, for example, avoid an emergency vehicle that isoperating within an environment of the autonomous vehicle.

Additionally, or alternatively, the processor 275 b may execute awarning and/or alternate driving route presentation module 420 to causethe processor 275 b to generate a presentation of a warning based uponthe warning data and/or a presentation of an alternate driving routebased upon the alternate driving route data (block 715). Thepresentation of the warning may be, for example, a visual alarm, amotion alarm (e.g., vibration of a seat or steering wheel) and/or anaudible alarm, and may be indicative of an emergency vehicle being in ageographic area of the autonomous vehicle.

The presentation of the alternate driving route may be, for example, avisual presentation and/or an audible presentation, and may beindicative of a driving route that will avoid intersection with anemergency vehicle. The processor 275 b may execute a module (e.g., amodule location data generation module 315) to cause the processor 275 bto generate autonomous vehicle location data based, for example, upon anoutput of a sensor (e.g., GPS 277 b of FIG. 2B). The method may includeadditional, fewer, or alternate actions, including those discussedelsewhere herein.

Exemplary Method for Generating Emergency Vehicle Warning Data and/orInsurance-Related Data

Turning to FIG. 8, a method of automatically generating emergencyvehicle warning data and/or insurance-related data 800 may beimplemented by a processor (e.g., processor 250 b of remote emergencymanagement services computing device 210 b of FIG. 2B) executing, forexample, modules 510-535 of FIG. 5. In particular, the processor 250 bmay execute the emergency call data receiving module 510 to cause theprocessor 250 b to receive emergency call data (block 805). For example,the emergency call data may be automatically entered into the remoteemergency management services computing device 210 b when the individualseeking emergency services calls into a remote location (e.g., remotelocation) and enters information via, for example, a telephone. Theemergency call data may be representative of information received by,for example, an emergency management services dispatcher from anindividual seeking emergency services (e.g., medical, fire, police,etc.). Alternatively, the processor 250 b may execute an emergencymanagement system vehicle dispatch and from/to data entering module 520such that a dispatcher may enter the emergency call data into, forexample, a remote emergency management services computing device (e.g.,remote emergency management services computing device 210 b of FIG. 2B)via, for example, a user input device (e.g., a keyboard, a touch screen,a voice actuated system, etc.) (block 810).

The processor 250 b may execute the effected geographic areadetermination module 520 to cause the processor 250 b to generateeffected geographic area data based upon the emergency call data (block815). The effected geographic area data may be representative of ageographic area in which an emergency vehicle will travel, an emergencyvehicle origination location, an emergency vehicle driving route, and/oran emergency vehicle destination location. The processor 250 b mayexecute the emergency vehicle warning data generation module 525 tocause the processor 250 b to generate emergency vehicle warning databased upon emergency vehicle data and/or autonomous vehicle data (block820). The processor 250 b may execute the emergency management servicesdata transmission module 530 to cause the processor 250 b to transmitemergency vehicle data and/or emergency vehicle warning data to aprocessor of an autonomous vehicle device (e.g., processor 275 b of FIG.2B) and/or a processor of an emergency vehicle device (e.g., processor225 b of FIG. 2B) (block 825).

The processor 250 b may execute an insurance-related data generationmodule 535 to cause the processor 250 b to generate insurance-relateddata based upon the emergency vehicle data, the autonomous vehicle data,and/or the emergency vehicle warning data (block 830). Theinsurance-related data may be, for example, representative of whether anemergency vehicle includes an emergency vehicle device (e.g., emergencyvehicle device 205 b of FIG. 2B) and/or an autonomous vehicle includesan autonomous vehicle device (e.g., autonomous vehicle device 265 b ofFIG. 2B).

In particular, the insurance-related data may be representative of alower insurance risk for an emergency vehicle that includes an emergencyvehicle device 205 b compared to an emergency vehicle that does notinclude an emergency vehicle device 205 b. Furthermore, theinsurance-related data may be representative of a lower insurance riskfor an autonomous vehicle that includes an autonomous vehicle device 265b compared to an autonomous vehicle that does not include an autonomousvehicle device 205 b. The method may include additional, less, oralternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

Exemplary Computer Implemented Method

In one aspect, a computer implemented method for generating datarepresentative of an emergency vehicle warning may be provided. Themethod may include (1) receiving, at a processor of a computing device,emergency vehicle data, in response to the processor executing anemergency vehicle data receiving module. The emergency vehicle data maybe representative of at least one of: emergency vehicle originationlocation data, emergency vehicle current location data, emergencyvehicle route data, and emergency vehicle destination location data. Themethod may also include (2) receiving, at a processor of a computingdevice, autonomous vehicle data, in response to the processor executingan autonomous vehicle data receiving module. The autonomous vehicle datamay be representative of at least one of: autonomous vehicle originationlocation data, autonomous vehicle current location data, autonomousvehicle route data, and autonomous vehicle destination location data.The method may further include (3) generating, using a processor of acomputing device, emergency vehicle warning data, based upon theemergency vehicle data and the autonomous vehicle data, in response tothe processor executing an emergency vehicle warning data generationmodule.

The method may yet further include (4) generating, using a processor ofa computing device, insurance-related data, based upon the emergencyvehicle warning data, in response to the processor executing aninsurance-related data generation module. The insurance-related data maybe representative of an insurance risk associated with an autonomousvehicle, and the insurance risk may be lower for an autonomous vehiclethat is equipped with an emergency vehicle warning data receivingdevice. The insurance-related data may be representative of an insurancerisk associated with an emergency vehicle, and an insurance risk may belower for an emergency vehicle that is equipped with an emergencyvehicle warning data generation and receiving device.

The method may include (5) transmitting, using a processor of acomputing device, emergency vehicle warning data, to an autonomousvehicle, in response to the processor executing an emergency vehiclewarning data transmission module. The method may include (6)transmitting, using a processor of a computing device, emergency vehicledata, from an emergency vehicle to an autonomous vehicle, in response tothe processor executing an emergency vehicle data transmission module.The method may include additional, less, or alternate actions, includingthat discussed elsewhere herein.

Exemplary System

A system for generating emergency vehicle warning data (and/or alternaterouting data) may be provided. The system may include an emergencyvehicle data receiving module stored on a memory that, when executed bya processor of a computing device, may cause the processor to receiveemergency vehicle data. The emergency vehicle data may be representativeof at least one of: emergency vehicle origination location data,emergency vehicle current location data, emergency vehicle route data,and/or emergency vehicle destination location data. The system may alsoinclude an autonomous vehicle data receiving module stored on a memorythat, when executed by a processor of a computing device, may cause theprocessor to receive autonomous vehicle data. The autonomous vehicledata may be representative of at least one of: autonomous vehicleorigination location data, autonomous vehicle current location data,autonomous vehicle route data, and/or autonomous vehicle destinationlocation data. The system may further include an emergency vehiclewarning data (and/or alternate routing data) generation module stored ona memory that, when executed by a processor of a computing device, maycause the processor to generate emergency vehicle warning data (and/oralternate routing data), based upon the emergency vehicle data and theautonomous vehicle data. The system may include additional, less, oralternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein.

For instance, the system may include an insurance-related datageneration module stored on a memory that, when executed by a processorof a computing device, may cause the processor to generateinsurance-related data, based upon the emergency vehicle warning data(and/or alternate routing data). The insurance-related data may berepresentative of an insurance risk associated with an autonomousvehicle, and the insurance risk may be lower for an autonomous vehiclethat is equipped with an emergency vehicle warning data (and/oralternate routing data) receiving device, and/or the insurance-relateddata may be representative of an insurance risk associated with anemergency vehicle, and the insurance risk may be lower for an emergencyvehicle that is equipped with an emergency vehicle warning data (and/oralternate routing data) generation and receiving device.

The system may also include an emergency vehicle data transmissionmodule stored on a memory that, when executed by a processor of acomputing device, may cause the processor to transmit emergency vehicledata (and/or associated alternate routing data) from an emergencyvehicle to an autonomous vehicle via a point-to-point communicationlink.

The system may also include an emergency vehicle warning data (and/oralternate routing data) transmission module stored on a memory that,when executed by a processor of a computing device, may cause theprocessor to transmit emergency vehicle warning data (and/or alternaterouting data) from a processor of a remote emergency management servicesdevice to an autonomous vehicle via a cellular telephone network.

The emergency vehicle data receiving module, the autonomous vehicle datareceiving module, and the emergency vehicle warning data generationmodule may be executed by a processor of a remote emergency managementservices device, and the remote emergency management services device mayinclude an insurance-related data generation module stored on a memorythat, when executed by the processor of the remote emergency managementservices device, may cause the processor to generate insurance-relateddata, based upon the emergency vehicle warning data.

Exemplary Computer-Readable Instructions

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that,when executed by a processor of a computing device, may cause theprocessor to automatically generate autonomous vehicle insurance datamay include an emergency vehicle data receiving module that, whenexecuted by a processor of a computing device, may cause the processorto receive emergency vehicle data. The emergency vehicle data may berepresentative of at least one of: emergency vehicle originationlocation data, emergency vehicle current location data, emergencyvehicle route data, and/or emergency vehicle destination location data.

The non-transitory computer-readable medium may also include anautonomous vehicle data receiving module that, when executed by aprocessor of a computing device, may cause the processor to receiveautonomous vehicle data. The autonomous vehicle data may berepresentative of at least one of: autonomous vehicle originationlocation data, autonomous vehicle current location data, autonomousvehicle route data, and/or autonomous vehicle destination location data.

The non-transitory computer-readable medium may further include anemergency vehicle warning data generation module that, when executed bya processor of a computing device, may cause the processor to generateemergency vehicle warning data (and/or alternate routing information),based upon the emergency vehicle data and the autonomous vehicle data.The non-transitory computer-readable medium may include an emergencyvehicle warning (and/or alternate routing) presentation module that,when executed by a processor of a computing device, may cause theprocessor to generate an emergency vehicle warning and/or alternaterouting) presentation based upon the emergency vehicle warning data. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium may include an insurance-relateddata generation module that, when executed by a processor of a computingdevice, may cause the processor to generate insurance-related data basedupon the emergency vehicle warning data.

The non-transitory computer-readable medium may include an emergencyvehicle data transmission module that, when executed by a processor of acomputing device, may cause the processor to transmit emergency vehicledata from a first emergency vehicle to a second emergency vehicle. Thenon-transitory computer-readable medium may include an emergency vehiclewarning data transmission module that, when executed by a processor of acomputing device, may cause the processor to transmit emergency vehiclewarning data from the processor to an emergency vehicle.

Additionally or alternatively, the non-transitory computer-readablemedium may include an autonomous vehicle alternate route presentationmodule that, when executed by a processor of a computing device, maycause the processor to generate an autonomous vehicle alternate routepresentation based upon the emergency vehicle warning data.

The non-transitory computer-readable medium may include an effectedgeographic area data generation module that, when executed by aprocessor of a computing device, may cause the processor to generateeffected geographic area data based upon the emergency vehicle data,and/or an emergency vehicle data warning transmission module that, whenexecuted by a processor of a computing device, may cause the processorto transmit emergency vehicle warning data and/or alternate routing datato autonomous vehicles based upon the effected geographic area data.

The non-transitory computer-readable medium may include an emergencyvehicle data transmission module that, when executed by a processor of acomputing device, may cause the processor to transmit emergency vehicledata to an autonomous vehicle. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium may include an emergency vehicle warning data transmission modulethat, when executed by a processor of a computing device, may cause theprocessor to transmit emergency vehicle warning data from the processorto an autonomous vehicle.

Exemplary Computer Implemented Method

In one aspect, a computer implemented method for generating datarepresentative of an emergency vehicle warning and/or alternate vehicleroute may be provided. The method may include (1) receiving, generating,or collecting, via or at one or more processors (such as processorsassociated with an emergency vehicle, autonomous vehicle, and/or remoteservers), emergency vehicle data via wireless communication and/or datatransmission, wherein the emergency vehicle data is representative of:emergency vehicle origination location data, emergency vehicle currentlocation data, emergency vehicle route data, emergency vehicledestination location data, and/or type of emergency; (2) receiving,generating, or collecting, via or at the one or more processors (such asprocessors associated with an emergency vehicle, autonomous vehicle,and/or remote servers), autonomous vehicle data, wherein the autonomousvehicle data is representative of: autonomous vehicle originationlocation data, autonomous vehicle current location data, autonomousvehicle route data, and/or autonomous vehicle destination location data;(3) receiving or generating, via or at the one or more processors (suchas processors associated with an emergency vehicle, autonomous vehicle,and/or remote servers), emergency vehicle warning data and/or alternatevehicle route data based upon computer analysis and/or comparison of theemergency and autonomous vehicle data, the alternate vehicle route (i)directing the autonomous vehicle out of the way of the emergencyvehicle, (ii) avoids the route of the emergency vehicle, and/or (iii)alleviates an amount that the autonomous vehicle interferes with a routeof the emergency vehicle; and/or (4) causing, via or at the one or moreprocessors (such as processors associated with an emergency vehicle,autonomous vehicle, and/or remote servers), the emergency vehiclewarning data and/or alternate vehicle route data, to be presented orprovided to a driver of the autonomous vehicle to facilitate alleviatingpotential vehicle accidents between emergency response and autonomousvehicles, and/or shortening emergency response times for emergencyvehicles. The method may include additional, less, or alternate actions,including those discussed elsewhere herein, and/or the method may beimplemented via a computer system, communication network, one or moreprocessors, and/or computer-executable instructions stored onnon-transitory storage media or computer-readable medium.

For instance, the method may include generating, via the one or moreprocessors, insurance-related data for the driver of the autonomousvehicle based upon the driver following recommendations associated withemergency vehicle warnings and/or alternate vehicle routing to avoidemergency vehicles. The insurance-related data may be representative ofan insurance risk associated with an autonomous vehicle, and theinsurance risk may be lower for an autonomous vehicle that is equippedwith an emergency vehicle warning data receiving device. Theinsurance-related data may be representative of an insurance riskassociated with an emergency vehicle, and the insurance risk may belower for an emergency vehicle that is equipped with an emergencyvehicle warning data generation, transmitting, and/or receiving device.

The method may include transmitting, via the one or more processors,emergency vehicle warning data and/or alternate vehicle route data toother vehicles or processors. The one or more processors may be mountedon an autonomous or smart vehicle, and the autonomous or smart vehicleautomatically may direct or drive itself to take an alternate vehicleroute and/or take self-driving actions that allow the autonomous orsmart vehicle avoid the emergency vehicle and/or a route of theemergency vehicle.

Exemplary Vehicle-Mounted Systems

In one aspect, a vehicle-mounted system of a vehicle for generatingemergency vehicle warning data and/or alternate route data may beprovided. The system may include one or more processors configured to:(1) receive emergency vehicle data, wherein the emergency vehicle datais representative of: emergency vehicle origination location data,emergency vehicle current location data, emergency vehicle route data,emergency vehicle destination location data, and/or alternate routing;(2) collect autonomous vehicle data, the autonomous vehicle dataassociated with the vehicle and being generated by one or morevehicle-mounted sensors or processors, the autonomous vehicle data isrepresentative: autonomous vehicle origination location data, autonomousvehicle current location data, autonomous vehicle route data, and/orautonomous vehicle destination location data; (3) generate an emergencyvehicle warning and/or alternate route based upon computer analysisand/or comparison of the emergency vehicle data and the autonomousvehicle data; and/or (4) present the emergency vehicle warning and/oralternate route to the driver of the vehicle such that driver of thevehicle, or the vehicle itself, may avoid may avoid the route of theemergency vehicle and/or to facilitate shortening response time foremergency vehicles.

The system may include additional, less, or alternate functionality,including that discussed elsewhere herein. For instance, the vehicle maybe an autonomous vehicle that automatically avoids the route of theemergency vehicle based upon computer comparison or analysis of theemergency and autonomous vehicle data.

The system may further include an insurance-related data generationmodule stored on a memory that, when executed by a processor of acomputing device, causes the processor to generate insurance-relateddata, based upon the emergency vehicle warning and/or alternate routedata. The insurance-related data may be representative of an insurancerisk associated with an autonomous vehicle, and/or the insurance riskmay be lower for an autonomous vehicle that is equipped with anemergency vehicle warning data receiving device. Additionally oralternatively, the insurance-related data may be representative of aninsurance risk associated with an emergency vehicle, and/or theinsurance risk may be lower for an emergency vehicle that is equippedwith an emergency vehicle warning data generation and receiving device.

Exemplary Autonomous Vehicle Implemented Method

In one aspect, a computer implemented method for generating datarepresentative of an emergency vehicle warning and/or alternate vehicleroute may be provided and/or may be performed by an autonomous vehicle.The method may include (1) receiving, via or at one or more processorsassociated with an autonomous vehicle, emergency vehicle data viawireless communication and/or data transmission, wherein the emergencyvehicle data is representative of: emergency vehicle origination,current location, current speed, current heading, current route, and/orcurrent destination, and/or type of emergency; (2) generating orcollecting, via or at the one or more processors associated with theautonomous vehicle, autonomous vehicle data (such as from one or morevehicle-mounted sensors), wherein the autonomous vehicle data isrepresentative of: autonomous vehicle origination, current location,current speed, current heading, current route, and/or currentdestination; (3) generating, via or at the one or more processorsassociated with the autonomous vehicle, emergency vehicle warning dataand/or alternate vehicle route data based upon computer analysis and/orcomparison of the emergency and autonomous vehicle data that isperformed by the one or more processors associated with the autonomousvehicle, the alternate vehicle route (i) directing the autonomousvehicle out of the way of the emergency vehicle, (ii) avoids the routeof the emergency vehicle, and/or (iii) alleviates an amount that theautonomous vehicle interferes with a route of the emergency vehicle;and/or (4) causing, via or at the one or more processors associated withthe autonomous vehicle, the emergency vehicle warning data and/oralternate vehicle route data, to be presented or provided to a driver ofthe autonomous vehicle to facilitate alleviating potential vehicleaccidents between emergency response and autonomous vehicles, and/orshortening emergency response times for emergency vehicles.

The method may further include adjusting an insurance policy, premium,rate, or discount for the autonomous vehicle based upon the autonomousvehicle having the vehicle warning and/or alternate vehicle routegeneration functionality. The method may include additional, less, oralternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein,and/or the method may be implemented via a computer system,communication network, one or more processors, and/orcomputer-executable instructions stored on non-transitory storage mediaor computer-readable medium.

Exemplary Autonomous Vehicle Implemented Method

In one another aspect, a computer implemented method for generating datarepresentative of an emergency response vehicle warning and/or alternatevehicle route may be provided. The method may include (1) receiving, viaor at one or more processors mounted on an autonomous vehicle, emergencyresponse vehicle data via wireless communication and/or datatransmission, wherein the emergency response vehicle data isrepresentative of: emergency response vehicle origin, current location,current speed, current heading, current route, and/or currentdestination, and/or type of emergency, such as a vehicle accident orweather event; (2) generating or collecting, via or at the one or moreprocessors mounted on the autonomous vehicle, autonomous vehicle dataassociated with the autonomous vehicle, wherein the autonomous vehicledata is representative of: the autonomous vehicle origination, currentlocation, current speed, current heading, current route, and/or currentdestination; (3) generating, via or at the one or more processorsmounted on the autonomous vehicle, emergency response vehicle warningdata and/or alternate vehicle route data based upon computer analysisand/or comparison of the emergency response and autonomous vehicle datathat is performed by the one or more processors mounted on theautonomous vehicle, the alternate vehicle route (i) directing theautonomous vehicle out of the way of the emergency response vehicle,(ii) avoids the route of the emergency response vehicle, and/or (iii)alleviates an amount that the autonomous vehicle interferes with a routeof the emergency response vehicle; and/or (4) causing, via or at the oneor more processors mounted on the autonomous vehicle, the autonomousvehicle to automatically take the alternate route and/or present theemergency response vehicle warning to a passenger within the autonomousvehicle to facilitate alleviating potential vehicle accidents betweenemergency response and autonomous vehicles, and/or shortening emergencyresponse times for emergency response vehicles.

The method may further include adjusting an insurance policy, premium,rate, or discount for the autonomous vehicle based upon the autonomousvehicle having the vehicle warning and/or alternate vehicle routegeneration functionality. The method may include additional, less, oralternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein,and/or the method may be implemented via a computer system,communication network, one or more processors, and/orcomputer-executable instructions stored on non-transitory storage mediaor computer-readable medium.

Exemplary Emergency Response Vehicle Implemented Method

In one aspect, a computer implemented method for generating datarepresentative of an emergency response vehicle warning and/or alternatevehicle route may be provided. The method may include (1) generating orcollecting, via or at one or more processors mounted on an emergencyresponse vehicle, emergency response vehicle data (such as fromvehicle-mounted sensors), wherein the emergency response vehicle data isrepresentative of: emergency response vehicle origin, current location,current speed, current heading, current route, and/or currentdestination, and/or type of emergency, such as a vehicle accident orweather event; and/or (2) broadcasting or transmitting, via or at one ormore processors or an associated transceiver mounted on the emergencyresponse vehicle, the emergency response vehicle data, such as viawireless communication or data transmission, to autonomous vehicles orremote servers to facilitate one or more of the autonomous vehiclesgenerating warnings associated with the emergency response vehicleand/or alternate routes to avoid the path of the emergency responsevehicle to facilitate alleviating potential vehicle accidents betweenemergency response and autonomous vehicles, and/or shortening emergencyresponse times for emergency response vehicles.

The method may further include adjusting an insurance policy, premium,rate, or discount for the emergency response vehicle based upon theautonomous vehicle having the emergency response vehicle data generationand/or broadcast functionality. The method may include additional, less,or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhere herein,and/or the method may be implemented via a computer system,communication network, one or more processors, and/orcomputer-executable instructions stored on non-transitory storage mediaor computer-readable medium.

Exemplary Warning and Alternate Route Generation

In one aspect, a computer implemented method for generating datarepresentative of an emergency vehicle warning and/or alternateautonomous vehicle route may be provided. The method may include: (1)receiving, via or at one or more processors associated with, or mountedon, an autonomous vehicle, emergency vehicle data via wirelesscommunication or data transmission, wherein the emergency vehicle datais representative of: emergency vehicle (i) origination, (ii) currentlocation, (iii) current speed, (iv) current heading, (v) current route,and/or (vi) current destination, and/or (vii) type of emergency, such asa vehicle accident, house fire, medical emergency, or weather event; (2)generating or collecting, via or at the one or more processorsassociated with, or mounted on, the autonomous vehicle, autonomousvehicle data from one or more vehicle-mounted sensors, wherein theautonomous vehicle data is representative of: autonomous vehicle (a)origination, (b) current location, (c) current speed, (d) currentheading, (e) current route, and/or (f) current destination; (3)generating, via or at the one or more processors associated with, ormounted on, the autonomous vehicle, emergency vehicle warning dataand/or alternate vehicle route data based upon computer analysis orcomparison of the emergency and autonomous vehicle data that isperformed by the one or more processors associated with the autonomousvehicle, the alternate vehicle route directing the autonomous vehicle toavoid the route of the emergency vehicle, or otherwise alleviates anamount that the autonomous vehicle interferes with a route of theemergency vehicle; and/or (4) causing, via or at the one or moreprocessors associated with, or mounted on, the autonomous vehicle, theemergency vehicle warning data and alternate vehicle route data, to bevisually or audibly presented, or otherwise provided, to a driver of theautonomous vehicle to facilitate alleviating potential vehicle accidentsbetween emergency response and autonomous vehicles, and/or shorteningemergency response times for emergency vehicles.

The method may also include adjusting an insurance policy, premium,rate, or discount for the autonomous vehicle based upon the autonomousvehicle having the vehicle warning and/or alternate vehicle routegeneration functionality. The autonomous vehicle may be an autonomous orsmart vehicle, and the autonomous or smart vehicle may automaticallydirect itself to take an alternate vehicle route and take self-drivingactions that allow the autonomous or smart vehicle avoid the emergencyvehicle or the route of the emergency vehicle.

The method may include adjusting an insurance policy, premium, rate, ordiscount for the autonomous vehicle based upon the autonomous vehiclehaving the vehicle warning and/or alternate vehicle route generationfunctionality. Additionally or alternatively, the method may includeadjusting an insurance policy, premium, rate, or discount for theemergency response vehicle based upon the emergency response vehiclehaving the emergency response vehicle data generation and/or broadcastfunctionality.

The method may include generating, via the one or more processorsmounted on the autonomous vehicle, insurance policy data for the driverof the autonomous vehicle based upon the driver followingrecommendations associated with emergency vehicle warnings or alternatevehicle routing that avoids emergency vehicles en route, and/ortransmitting, via the one or more processors mounted on the autonomousvehicle, to an insurance provider remote server to facilitate theinsurance provider (or insurance provider remote server) providing autoinsurance cost savings to the driver (or other insured or vehicle owner)based upon the insurance policy data and/or functionality associatedwith emergency vehicle avoidance. The method may include additional,less, or alternate functionality, including that discussed elsewhereherein, and/or the method may be implemented via a computer system,communication network, one or more processors, and/orcomputer-executable instructions stored on non-transitory storage mediaor computer-readable medium.

Exemplary Vehicle Mounted System

In another aspect, a vehicle-mounted system of an autonomous vehicle forgenerating emergency vehicle warning data and/or alternate route datamay be provided. The system may include one or more processors mountedon the autonomous vehicle configured to: (1) receive emergency vehicledata via wireless communication or data transmission, the emergencyvehicle data being representative of: emergency vehicle (i) originationlocation, (ii) current location data, (iii) route, (iv) destination, (v)speed, and/or (vi) alternate routing; (2) generate or collect autonomousvehicle data, the autonomous vehicle data associated with the autonomousvehicle and being generated by one or more vehicle-mounted sensors orprocessors, the autonomous vehicle data is representative of: autonomousvehicle (a) origination location, (b) current location, (c) route, (d)destination, and/or (e) speed; (3) generate an alternate route basedupon computer analysis or comparison of the emergency vehicle data andthe autonomous vehicle data; and/or (4) present the alternate route tothe driver of the vehicle, or the vehicle itself, such that the driverof the vehicle, or the vehicle itself, may avoid the route of theemergency vehicle or that shortening of the response time for emergencyvehicles is facilitated.

The autonomous vehicle may be an autonomous vehicle that automaticallyavoids the route of the emergency vehicle based upon computer comparisonor analysis of the emergency and autonomous vehicle data. Additionallyor alternatively, the emergency vehicle may be an autonomous vehiclethat automatically avoids the route of the autonomous vehicle based uponcomputer comparison or analysis of the emergency and autonomous vehicledata.

The one or more processors mounted on the autonomous vehicle may befurther configured to: collect or generate, via the one or moreprocessors mounted on the autonomous vehicle, insurance policy data forthe driver of the autonomous vehicle based upon the driver followingrecommendations associated with emergency vehicle warnings or alternatevehicle routing that avoids emergency vehicles en route, and/ortransmit, via the one or more processors mounted on the autonomousvehicle, the insurance policy data to an insurance provider remoteserver to facilitate the insurance provider or insurance provider remoteserver providing auto insurance cost savings to the driver (or otherinsured or vehicle owner) based upon the insurance policy data and/orfunctionality associated with emergency vehicle avoidance.

The one or more processors mounted on the autonomous vehicle may befurther configured to: generate an emergency vehicle warning based uponcomputer analysis or comparison of the emergency vehicle data and theautonomous vehicle data; and/or present the emergency vehicle warning tothe driver of the vehicle such that the driver of the vehicle, or thevehicle itself, may avoid the route of the emergency vehicle or thatshortening of the response time for emergency vehicles is facilitated.The vehicle-mounted system may include additional, less, or alternateactions, including those discussed elsewhere herein.

Technical Advantages

The aspects described herein may be implemented as part of one or morecomputer components (such as an emergency vehicle device) and/or one ormore back-end components (such as an autonomous vehicle device), forexample. Furthermore, the aspects described herein may be implemented aspart of a computer network architecture and/or a computing architecturethat facilitates communications between various other devices and/orcomponents. Thus, the aspects described herein address and solve issuesof a technical nature that are necessarily rooted in computertechnology.

For instance, some aspects include analyzing various sources of data todetermine automatic autonomous vehicle operation based on emergencyvehicle warning data. Once this is determined, the aspects may alsoallow for a determination of whether the emergency vehicle warning datahas changed. In doing so, the aspects may overcome issues associatedwith the inconvenience of manual and/or unnecessary autonomous vehicleoperation. Without the improvements suggested herein, additionalprocessing and memory usage may be required to perform such vehicleoperation, as an emergency vehicle device may need to downloadadditional data and process this data as part of the automaticautonomous vehicle operation.

Furthermore, the embodiments described herein may function to optimizeautomatic operation of autonomous vehicles based on emergency vehiclewarning data. The process may improve upon existing technologies by moreaccurately forecasting a user's account balance using additional datasources. Due to this increase in accuracy, the aspects may addresscomputer-related issues regarding efficiency over the traditional amountof processing power and models used to operate emergency vehicles andautonomous vehicles. Thus, the aspects may also address computer relatedissues that are related to efficiency metrics, such as consuming lesspower, for example.

Additional Considerations

This detailed description is to be construed as exemplary only and doesnot describe every possible embodiment, as describing every possibleembodiment would be impractical, if not impossible. One may implementnumerous alternate embodiments, using either current technology ortechnology developed after the filing date of this application.

Further to this point, although the embodiments described herein oftenutilize credit report information as an example of sensitiveinformation, the embodiments described herein are not limited to suchexamples. Instead, the embodiments described herein may be implementedin any suitable environment in which it is desirable to identify andcontrol specific type of information. For example, the aforementionedembodiments may be implemented by a governmental agency that operatesemergency vehicles, etc. To provide another example, the aforementionedembodiments may be implemented by autonomous vehicle operator to notonly identify, re-route, and quarantine autonomous vehicle information,but to apply similar techniques to prevent the dissemination ofautonomous vehicle operation data that is preferably delivered inaccordance with a more secure means (e.g., via a secure login to a webserver) than via email.

Furthermore, although the present disclosure sets forth a detaileddescription of numerous different embodiments, it should be understoodthat the legal scope of the description is defined by the words of theclaims set forth at the end of this patent and equivalents. The detaileddescription is to be construed as exemplary only and does not describeevery possible embodiment since describing every possible embodimentwould be impractical. Numerous alternative embodiments may beimplemented, using either current technology or technology developedafter the filing date of this patent, which would still fall within thescope of the claims. Although the following text sets forth a detaileddescription of numerous different embodiments, it should be understoodthat the legal scope of the description is defined by the words of theclaims set forth at the end of this patent and equivalents. The detaileddescription is to be construed as exemplary only and does not describeevery possible embodiment since describing every possible embodimentwould be impractical. Numerous alternative embodiments may beimplemented, using either current technology or technology developedafter the filing date of this patent, which would still fall within thescope of the claims.

The following additional considerations apply to the foregoingdiscussion. Throughout this specification, plural instances mayimplement components, operations, or structures described as a singleinstance. Although individual operations of one or more methods areillustrated and described as separate operations, one or more of theindividual operations may be performed concurrently, and nothingrequires that the operations be performed in the order illustrated.Structures and functionality presented as separate components in exampleconfigurations may be implemented as a combined structure or component.Similarly, structures and functionality presented as a single componentmay be implemented as separate components. These and other variations,modifications, additions, and improvements fall within the scope of thesubject matter herein.

Additionally, certain embodiments are described herein as includinglogic or a number of routines, subroutines, applications, orinstructions. These may constitute either software (e.g., code embodiedon a machine-readable medium or in a transmission signal) or hardware.In hardware, the routines, etc., are tangible units capable ofperforming certain operations and may be configured or arranged in acertain manner. In exemplary embodiments, one or more computer systems(e.g., a standalone, client or server computer system) or one or morehardware modules of a computer system (e.g., a processor or a group ofprocessors) may be configured by software (e.g., an application orapplication portion) as a hardware module that operates to performcertain operations as described herein.

In various embodiments, a hardware module may be implementedmechanically or electronically. For example, a hardware module maycomprise dedicated circuitry or logic that is permanently configured(e.g., as a special-purpose processor, such as a field programmable gatearray (FPGA) or an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC)) toperform certain operations. A hardware module may also compriseprogrammable logic or circuitry (e.g., as encompassed within ageneral-purpose processor or other programmable processor) that istemporarily configured by software to perform certain operations. Itwill be appreciated that the decision to implement a hardware modulemechanically, in dedicated and permanently configured circuitry, or intemporarily configured circuitry (e.g., configured by software), may bedriven by cost and time considerations.

Accordingly, the term “hardware module” should be understood toencompass a tangible entity, be that an entity that is physicallyconstructed, permanently configured (e.g., hardwired), or temporarilyconfigured (e.g., programmed) to operate in a certain manner or toperform certain operations described herein. Considering embodiments inwhich hardware modules are temporarily configured (e.g., programmed),each of the hardware modules need not be configured or instantiated atany one instance in time. For example, where the hardware modulescomprise a general-purpose processor configured using software, thegeneral-purpose processor may be configured as respective differenthardware modules at different times. Software may accordingly configurea processor, for example, to constitute a particular hardware module atone instance of time and to constitute a different hardware module at adifferent instance of time.

Hardware modules may provide information to, and receive informationfrom, other hardware modules. Accordingly, the described hardwaremodules may be regarded as being communicatively coupled. Where multipleof such hardware modules exist contemporaneously, communications may beachieved through signal transmission (e.g., over appropriate circuitsand buses) that connect the hardware modules. In embodiments in whichmultiple hardware modules are configured or instantiated at differenttimes, communications between such hardware modules may be achieved, forexample, through the storage and retrieval of information in memorystructures to which the multiple hardware modules have access. Forexample, one hardware module may perform an operation and store theoutput of that operation in a memory device to which it iscommunicatively coupled. A further hardware module may then, at a latertime, access the memory device to retrieve and process the storedoutput. Hardware modules may also initiate communications with input oroutput devices, and may operate on a resource (e.g., a collection ofinformation).

The various operations of example methods described herein may beperformed, at least partially, by one or more processors that aretemporarily configured (e.g., by software) or permanently configured toperform the relevant operations. Whether temporarily or permanentlyconfigured, such processors may constitute processor-implemented modulesthat operate to perform one or more operations or functions. The modulesreferred to herein may, in some example embodiments, compriseprocessor-implemented modules.

Similarly, the methods or routines described herein may be at leastpartially processor-implemented. For example, at least some of theoperations of a method may be performed by one or more processors orprocessor-implemented hardware modules. The performance of certain ofthe operations may be distributed among the one or more processors, notonly residing within a single machine, but deployed across a number ofmachines. In some example embodiments, the processor or processors maybe located in a single location (e.g., within a home environment, anoffice environment or as a server farm), while in other embodiments theprocessors may be distributed across a number of locations.

The performance of some of the operations may be distributed among theone or more processors, not only residing within a single machine, butdeployed across a number of machines. In some example embodiments, theone or more processors or processor-implemented modules may be locatedin a single geographic location (e.g., within a home environment, anoffice environment, or a server farm). In other example embodiments, theone or more processors or processor-implemented modules may bedistributed across a number of geographic locations.

Unless specifically stated otherwise, discussions herein using wordssuch as “processing,” “computing,” “calculating,” “determining,”“presenting,” “displaying,” or the like may refer to actions orprocesses of a machine (e.g., a computer) that manipulates or transformsdata represented as physical (e.g., electronic, magnetic, or optical)quantities within one or more memories (e.g., volatile memory,non-volatile memory, or a combination thereof), registers, or othermachine components that receive, store, transmit, or displayinformation.

As used herein any reference to “one embodiment” or “an embodiment”means that a particular element, feature, structure, or characteristicdescribed in connection with the embodiment is included in at least oneembodiment. The appearances of the phrase “in one embodiment” in variousplaces in the specification are not necessarily all referring to thesame embodiment.

Some embodiments may be described using the expression “coupled” and“connected” along with their derivatives. For example, some embodimentsmay be described using the term “coupled” to indicate that two or moreelements are in direct physical or electrical contact. The term“coupled,” however, may also mean that two or more elements are not indirect contact with each other, but yet still co-operate or interactwith each other. The embodiments are not limited in this context.

As used herein, the terms “comprises,” “comprising,” “includes,”“including,” “has,” “having” or any other variation thereof, areintended to cover a non-exclusive inclusion. For example, a process,method, article, or apparatus that comprises a list of elements is notnecessarily limited to only those elements but may include otherelements not expressly listed or inherent to such process, method,article, or apparatus. Further, unless expressly stated to the contrary,“or” refers to an inclusive or and not to an exclusive or. For example,a condition A or B is satisfied by any one of the following: A is true(or present) and B is false (or not present), A is false (or notpresent) and B is true (or present), and both A and B are true (orpresent).

In addition, use of the “a” or “an” are employed to describe elementsand components of the embodiments herein. This is done merely forconvenience and to give a general sense of the description. Thisdescription, and the claims that follow, should be read to include oneor at least one and the singular also includes the plural unless it isobvious that it is meant otherwise.

The patent claims at the end of this patent application are not intendedto be construed under 35 U.S.C. § 112(f) unless traditionalmeans-plus-function language is expressly recited, such as “means for”or “step for” language being explicitly recited in the claim(s).

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer implemented method for generating datarepresentative of an emergency vehicle warning, the method comprising:receiving, at a processor of a computing device, emergency vehicle data,in response to the processor executing an emergency vehicle datareceiving module, wherein the emergency vehicle data is representativeof at least one of: emergency vehicle origination position data,emergency vehicle existing position data, emergency vehicle course data,and emergency vehicle end position data; receiving, at a processor of acomputing device, autonomous vehicle data, in response to the processorexecuting an autonomous vehicle data receiving module, wherein theautonomous vehicle data is representative of at least one of: autonomousvehicle origination position data, autonomous vehicle existing positiondata, autonomous vehicle course data, and autonomous vehicle endposition data; generating, using a processor of a computing device,autonomous vehicle route data, based upon the emergency vehicle data andthe autonomous vehicle data, in response to the processor executing anautonomous vehicle route data generation module to facilitatealleviating potential vehicle accidents between emergency responsevehicles and other vehicles, and/or shortening emergency response times;and generating, using a processor of a computing device,insurance-related data, based upon the emergency vehicle warning data,in response to the processor executing an insurance-related datageneration module, wherein the insurance-related data is representativeof an insurance risk associated with an autonomous vehicle, and whereinthe insurance risk is lower for an autonomous vehicle that is equippedwith an emergency vehicle warning data receiving device, and/or whereinthe insurance-related data is representative of an insurance riskassociated with an emergency vehicle, and wherein the insurance risk islower for an emergency vehicle that is equipped with an emergencyvehicle warning data generation and receiving device.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising: generating, using a processor of acomputing device, emergency vehicle warning data, based upon theemergency vehicle data and the autonomous vehicle data, in response tothe processor executing an emergency vehicle warning data generationmodule to facilitate alleviating potential vehicle accidents betweenemergency response vehicles and other vehicles, and/or shorteningemergency response times; and transmitting, using a processor of acomputing device, emergency vehicle warning data, to an autonomousvehicle, in response to the processor executing an emergency vehiclewarning data transmission module.
 3. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: transmitting, using a processor of a computing device,emergency vehicle data, from an emergency vehicle to an autonomousvehicle, in response to the processor executing an emergency vehicledata transmission module.
 4. A system for generating emergency vehiclewarning data, the system comprising: an emergency vehicle data receivingmodule stored on a memory that, when executed by a processor of acomputing device, causes the processor to receive emergency vehicledata, wherein the emergency vehicle data is representative of at leastone of: emergency vehicle origination location data, emergency vehiclecurrent location data, emergency vehicle route data, and emergencyvehicle destination location data; an autonomous vehicle data receivingmodule stored on a memory that, when executed by a processor of acomputing device, causes the processor to receive autonomous vehicledata, wherein the autonomous vehicle data is representative of at leastone of: autonomous vehicle origination location data, autonomous vehiclecurrent location data, autonomous vehicle route data, and autonomousvehicle destination location data; an autonomous vehicle route datageneration module stored on a memory that, when executed by a processorof a computing device, causes the processor to generate autonomousvehicle route data, based upon the emergency vehicle data and theautonomous vehicle data; and an insurance-related data generation modulestored on a memory that, when executed by a processor of a computingdevice, causes the processor to generate insurance-related data, basedupon the emergency vehicle warning data, wherein the insurance-relateddata is representative of an insurance risk associated with anautonomous vehicle, and wherein the insurance risk is lower for anautonomous vehicle that is equipped with an emergency vehicle warningdata receiving device, and/or wherein the insurance-related data isrepresentative of an insurance risk associated with an emergencyvehicle, and wherein the insurance risk is lower for an emergencyvehicle that is equipped with an emergency vehicle warning datageneration and receiving device.
 5. The system of claim 4, furthercomprising: an emergency vehicle data transmission module stored on amemory that, when executed by a processor of a computing device, causesthe processor to transmit emergency vehicle data from an emergencyvehicle to an autonomous vehicle via a point-to-point communicationlink.
 6. The system of claim 4, further comprising: an emergency vehiclewarning data generation module stored on a memory that, when executed bya processor of a computing device, causes the processor to generateemergency vehicle warning data, based upon the emergency vehicle dataand the autonomous vehicle data; and an emergency vehicle warning datatransmission module stored on a memory that, when executed by aprocessor of a computing device, causes the processor to transmitemergency vehicle warning data from a processor of a remote emergencymanagement services device to an autonomous vehicle via a cellulartelephone network.
 7. The system of claim 4, wherein the emergencyvehicle data receiving module, the autonomous vehicle data receivingmodule, and the autonomous vehicle route data generation module areexecuted by a processor of a remote emergency management servicesdevice, and the remote emergency management services device furthercomprises: an insurance-related data generation module stored on amemory that, when executed by the processor of the remote emergencymanagement services device, causes the processor to generateinsurance-related data, based upon the emergency vehicle warning data.8. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that,when executed by a processor of a computing device, causes the processorto automatically generate emergency vehicle warning data, thenon-transitory computer-readable medium comprising: an emergency vehicledata receiving module that, when executed by a processor of a computingdevice, causes the processor to receive emergency vehicle data, whereinthe emergency vehicle data is representative of at least one of:emergency vehicle origination location data, emergency vehicle currentlocation data, emergency vehicle route data, and emergency vehicledestination location data; an autonomous vehicle data receiving modulethat, when executed by a processor of a computing device, causes theprocessor to receive autonomous vehicle data, wherein the autonomousvehicle data is representative of at least one of: autonomous vehicleorigination location data, autonomous vehicle current location data,autonomous vehicle route data, and autonomous vehicle destinationlocation data; an autonomous vehicle route data generation module that,when executed by a processor of a computing device, causes the processorto generate autonomous vehicle route data, based upon the emergencyvehicle data and the autonomous vehicle data; and generating, using aprocessor of a computing device, insurance-related data, based upon theemergency vehicle warning data, in response to the processor executingan insurance-related data generation module, wherein theinsurance-related data is representative of an insurance risk associatedwith an autonomous vehicle, and wherein the insurance risk is lower foran autonomous vehicle that is equipped with an emergency vehicle warningdata receiving device, and/or wherein the insurance-related data isrepresentative of an insurance risk associated with an emergencyvehicle, and wherein the insurance risk is lower for an emergencyvehicle that is equipped with an emergency vehicle warning datageneration and receiving device.
 9. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 8, further comprising: an emergency vehicle warning datageneration module that, when executed by a processor of a computingdevice, causes the processor to generate emergency vehicle warning data,based upon the emergency vehicle data and the autonomous vehicle data;and an emergency vehicle warning presentation module that, when executedby a processor of a computing device, causes the processor to generatean emergency vehicle warning presentation based upon the emergencyvehicle warning data.
 10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 8, further comprising: an emergency vehicle warning datageneration module that, when executed by a processor of a computingdevice, causes the processor to generate emergency vehicle warning data,based upon the emergency vehicle data and the autonomous vehicle data;and an insurance-related data generation module that, when executed by aprocessor of a computing device, causes the processor to generateinsurance-related data based upon the emergency vehicle warning data.11. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 8, furthercomprising: an emergency vehicle data transmission module that, whenexecuted by a processor of a computing device, causes the processor totransmit emergency vehicle data from a first emergency vehicle to asecond emergency vehicle.
 12. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 8, further comprising: an emergency vehicle warning datageneration module that, when executed by a processor of a computingdevice, causes the processor to generate emergency vehicle warning data,based upon the emergency vehicle data and the autonomous vehicle data;and an emergency vehicle warning data transmission module that, whenexecuted by a processor of a computing device, causes the processor totransmit emergency vehicle warning data from the processor to anemergency vehicle.
 13. The non-transitory computer-readable medium ofclaim 8, further comprising: an emergency vehicle warning datageneration module that, when executed by a processor of a computingdevice, causes the processor to generate emergency vehicle warning data,based upon the emergency vehicle data and the autonomous vehicle data;and an autonomous vehicle alternate route presentation module that, whenexecuted by a processor of a computing device, causes the processor togenerate an autonomous vehicle alternate route presentation based uponthe emergency vehicle warning data.
 14. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 8, further comprising: an effectedgeographic area data generation module that, when executed by aprocessor of a computing device, causes the processor to generateeffected geographic area data based upon the emergency vehicle data; andan emergency vehicle data warning transmission module that, whenexecuted by a processor of a computing device, causes the processor totransmit emergency vehicle warning data autonomous vehicles based uponthe effected geographic area data.
 15. The non-transitorycomputer-readable medium of claim 8, further comprising: an emergencyvehicle data transmission module that, when executed by a processor of acomputing device, causes the processor to transmit emergency vehicledata to an autonomous vehicle.
 16. The non-transitory computer-readablemedium of claim 8, further comprising: an emergency vehicle warning datageneration module that, when executed by a processor of a computingdevice, causes the processor to generate emergency vehicle warning data,based upon the emergency vehicle data and the autonomous vehicle data;and an emergency vehicle warning data transmission module that, whenexecuted by a processor of a computing device, causes the processor totransmit emergency vehicle warning data from the processor to anautonomous vehicle.